Konoha's Inventor
by Corruptmonk
Summary: Naruto suffered an accident that caused memories of his past life to slowly resurface in his mind. As he grew, he integrates the personality, memories, and abilities of the One-Winged Angel - Sephiroth. Enemies beware! Sephiroth-like Naruto. Inventor-Naruto Strong Naruto. Intelligent-Naruto. Minimal Bashing if possible. Slight AU. MASS CROSSOVER WARNING!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Final Fantasy 7, or any works that this story might be hitting along the way. Give credit to where credit is due. **

**I was inspired to do this story after reading some interesting Naruto-FF7 crossovers. I will not be following their plot (though you expect quite a lot of them to be similar in terms of powers, skills, etc.) but there will be similarities considering we are all using the same story as a base. So there! **

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_**Summary: **__Naruto suffered an accident that caused memories of his past life to slowly resurface in his mind. As he grew, he integrates the personality, memories, and abilities of the One-Winged Angel - Sephiroth. Enemies beware! Sephiroth-like Naruto. Inventor-Naruto Strong Naruto. Intelligent-Naruto. Minimal Bashing if possible. Slight AU but mostly similar to canon as the story goes._

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A five-year old Uzumaki Naruto was currently sitting on his favorite perch on the Hokage Monunment while staring blankly at the village below with glazed eyes. If people saw him right now, they would think that the boy was brain-dead or there was something wrong with the normally hyperactive blonde. As it was, Naruto was oblivious to the world as he was immersed deep into his memories, meriting the blank blue eyes as if staring at nothing and everything without focus or thought.

Naruto knew that these memories started when he hit his head hard enough to black out. He was leading some Chuunins around the village and into a fenced forest after a successful prank. He didn't notice the pit in front of him so he fell, screaming all the way before being silenced when his head hit the hard packed soil.

After waking up in the hospital and getting a stern talking to from a very worried Sandaime Hokage regarding pranks and getting too close to the Forest of Death, Naruto spent most of his time reviewing the memories he didn't have before. It was like watching a movie – an action packed sci-fi fantasy movie.

Naruto was quite sure that these memories were not his own which was glaringly obvious after looking through all of them.

For starters, he was five years old, blonde, wearing an orange shirt and black shorts (the only clothes he had since the shops in the village would overcharge him for the most cheap clothes), and immature. The 'him' in the memories was tall – clearly an adult; long silver-white hair, wearing a black trench coat with metal pads on his shoulders, powerful, and carried a very long sword stained with blood. The man's eyes were green, glowing with power. The 'him' in his memories also sported a single black wing.

It took him a week to process all the memories in his head until his now-matured mind was able to come up with a theory that was the most probable among others he came up with.

He knew he was Uzumaki Naruto, the pariah of Konohagakure no Sato; but he couldn't deny the fact that he was also the reincarnation of Sephiroth, the One-Winged Angel of Midgar, The Destroyer.

Naruto frowned as he exited his meditation. If he was the reincarnation of Sephiroth then it was quite possible that the man's prowess also bled to him. He raised his hand, half pointing forward, wanting to see if this was true.

"Fire." He intoned as he channeled magic to his hand like Sephiroth did, expecting a large fireball to burst forth. Instead of the usual feeling of magic he felt in Sephiroth's memories, Naruto felt that there was something missing, something that was necessary for the spell to come to life. He frowned as he tried again, getting the same feeling, or the lack thereof.

"Interesting." Naruto murmured in a somewhat detached voice. After viewing all the memories of his past life, it was quite obvious that something changed in him. He was no longer the boy in a constant sugar-high. He was now calm, calculated, and somewhat aloof. His mind was no longer that of a curious child, but a mature adult. Naruto didn't mind losing his childhood since he never had any in the first place. "I know that I _can_ do the spell but it lacked the energy I used as Sephiroth. It would seem that channeling the energy for the spell didn't necessary mean that the energy was there. Correction, it is there but lacking. Hm, I wonder…"

Naruto closed his eyes and looked deep within himself, going into the basic exercise that all SOLDIER were forced to do in order to cast spells. It was easy for him since he knew HOW to do it thanks to the memories he immersed himself in. He opened his senses as his mind probed his body for the core where magic dwelled. It took a while but he found it and was quite surprised at the difference.

Unlike his core that once contained untold amounts of Mako he was infused with during his time as a SOLDIER, the energy in his core was pure magical energy, not enhanced by Mako or anything that would prove negative to his body while enhancing his abilities tenfold. It was still as large as his core as Sephiroth but it was cleaner, purer without Mako mucking up the works or putting his body at risk. It made him giddy that his core was quite large despite being a child and couldn't wait at the prospect of how big it would grow when he reached his peak. If he was a powerhouse before, he was going to be a much bigger threat in the future. He couldn't wait.

That excitement, however, was blunted when Naruto discovered that his body didn't have a shred of Mako in it. This was relatively obvious since his eyes were blue. If he had Mako then it would have been green and glowing. However, he could work around that if need be but it would be hard considering that he had Mako in his veins all his life – his past life anyway.

Pulling a sliver of pure magical energy from his core, he opened his eyes and raised his hand again.

"Fire!" he chanted while pushing the magic out of his hand as he would when in possession of a Materia. This time, he was rewarded by a burst of flame that appeared as quickly as it disappeared. The size of the flame was similar to that of a small candle. It didn't deter him though since he knew that he could do the spell but improving its potency would require a lot of work.

"Blizzard." A block of ice appeared but it was no bigger than an ice cube. "Thunder." A small park of electricity appeared between his fingers that made his skin tingle.

The spells were puny but Naruto knew that he could work on it despite the lack of Mako in his body to improve his spell's potency. But despite this glaring setback, he was still happy that he had Sephiroth's abilities if nothing else. A thought occurred to Naruto, making him grin. He decided to try something that only Sephiroth was known to do – the ability to fly.

He stood up and channeled the energy to every single cell in his body and willed himself to fly. It was sluggish but he eventually covered the entirety of his body with the necessary energy. However, he was quite disappointed when all he got was floating a few inches off the ground before settling back down again. Sure, he had a large core but it was useless if it wasn't as potent enough to utilize his abilities.

"This isn't good." He murmured in total disappointment. "Even if I have Sephiroth's abilities, lacking the Materias of course, it would seem that I need to work on increasing my control over this…new energy since it's not amplified by Mako. I may not be able to fly but I can still do this."

With a grin on his face, Naruto walked towards the edge of the Yondaime's head and stepped off the edge to fall the unforgiving ground below without a care in the world. However, as he neared his destination and killing himself in the process, Naruto channeled as much of the pure energy as he could in his small body and willed himself to become light.

Thankfully, his foolhardy experiment worked since he could feel himself slowing down before landing softly without a sound. His landing didn't even stir up the dry ground, a testament to how he defied gravity.

"Well, I might not be able to fly yet but at least I can now go against gravity if I really want to." Naruto said with a grin as he walked towards his apartment with practiced gait, unlike the one he used to have before mentally incorporating everything that was his past life. "Oh well, at least I know how to train myself. Ku ku ku ku."

It went unnoticed that talking to himself out loud was another indication that he totally immersed himself in the personality of his predecessor.

Uzumaki Naruto and Sephiroth became one entity, not that he cared of course.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto frowned. It had been a week since absorbing Sephiroth's personality into himself and tested all the abilities he knew his past life could do. He tested them and found that it was available to him. However, his body was too weak to use them effectively much to his ire. He didn't quit though and the many failures fueled his determination to get his old strength back.

During his experiments in a secluded area behind the Hokage Monument away from the prying eyes of shinobi and civilians alike; he discovered a few things concerning his abilities that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

One, he no longer had Mako in his system so his enhanced strength and speed were no longer available to him. Considering that he was still 5 years old, his body definitely couldn't handle the stress without breaking down or suffer irreparable damage. Thankfully, he could still regenerate or heal himself to a degree even without Mako.

Cure was definitely a handle spell to have around and it didn't really take that much magic to use.

Regarding this problem, the best way to attain physical strength and speed was to train extensively. This was easy since he was in a shinobi village so there should be some training manuals of sorts in the library he could use as a guide. If not, he could always come up with something himself if he really need to or spy on the many training grounds around Konoha to take notes.

He was quite tempted to mimic his training during his SOLDIER days but it was glaringly obvious that it would be difficult since Konoha couldn't compare to Midgar's technologically-advanced training facilities.

Two, without Mako, he could no longer bring out the output he used to have. Mako was like an amplifier for magic, making it easy for SOLDIER to cast spells with more potency using only the barest of minimum, allowing them to cast more spells with plenty of fuel to spare.

However, the lack of Mako stopped him from casting ALL the spells he knew. Even a simple Haste didn't work and he considered the spell his weakest out of all the Support Magics had had in his past life. He didn't want to try his hand at Summoning since he knew that he would fail spectacularly to add to his already bruised ego.

The only way to counter this problem was to improve his control over his energy and practice with it often to increase its potency. He surmised that if he practiced with it every day, casting all the spells he knew even if they were laughably puny, he would be able to become an average spell caster in five years, give or take a few months.

Another five years then he would be a force to be feared, his spells comparable to the elemental and non-elemental techniques shinobi were known to use.

Give him another five years then he could spam Ultima, Flare, and Meteor that would make S-rank rogue shinobi tremble in their proverbial boots, and that didn't include his arsenal of summons.

Another method to speed up the process was to slowly saturate his body with magic, making it similar to being imbued with Mako. It might not have granted him the physical improvements Mako could give but it would make it easy for him bring out spells on the fly without having to bring out his magic every time as his body's conductivity towards his own energy improves.

Three, he was quite happy that he was able to summon his nodachi-class sword, Masamune, from its resting place in a pocket dimension that only he knew how to open.

However, he couldn't lift the damn thing; much less wield it, since it was _way_ taller than him.

If he wanted to become a swordsman like his past life then he needed to get his body up to par and fast. It took a while to send the sword back to its pocket dimension but he eventually succeeded after a few minutes of intense concentration. It was actually quite weird to send the sword back to its hidden home from the ground as his hand remained on the hilt while channeling the necessary magic and focus.

Lastly, he could not enhance his body using magic without Mako running through his veins. He tried to do so by lifting his bed but couldn't even make it budge. Sure, he could channel magic to fight gravity to an extent (slowing down his fall) but he couldn't do so to increase his physical strength and speed. If he wanted to be strong then he needed to do this the old fashioned way – muscle training – making him wince.

Naruto sighed as he fell on top of his bed, his mind already whirling with ideas on how to get his skills back. Thanks to the increased IQ the merger brought him; he knew that the only way to achieve that goal was to resort to become the SOLDIER's alternative in this world – a shinobi.

To do that, he needed to attend the Academy next year.

That thought made the blonde frown. He heard from his surrogate grandfather, the Sandaime Hokage, that the Konoha Academy includes a 6-year course on shinobi basics to prepare them for the field. He had no problem with that since the thought of training appealed to him. Both his memories as Sephiroth and Uzumaki Naruto wasn't opposed to hard work. It would be safe to say that the two personas had something in common and that was working their butts off to attain strength.

However, the idea of attending the Academy as a weak idiot didn't appeal to him. No, his mindset as Sephiroth wouldn't accept that. Uzumaki Naruto's pride and dream to become Hokage didn't like it at all.

After a few minutes of deliberation, he decided to resort to a bit of manipulation and cunning if he wanted to achieve his goal. Of course, being a strategist, he needed to plan this out to ensure that it works.

Failure was NOT an option.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto gave himself a mental pat on the back for a job well done. He succeeded in controlling the discussion he had with the Sandaime regarding the postponement of his attendance in the Konoha Academy for two years.

He had to chuckle upon seeing the disbelieving looks on the Sandaime's face when he laid out his argument on the table. Naruto inwardly smiled to himself since his past persona as a hyperactive knucklehead must have made it difficult for people to believe his new attitude and mindset. He couldn't help but sigh that there might be rumors going around that he must have hit his head a bit too hard to do a complete 180 in both personality and intelligence.

This didn't concern him though since his newfound maturity didn't really care what the idiotic villagers think as long as those he cared about accepted the change..

Anyway, his arguments were sound and the Sandaime agreed to enroll him after two years, granted that he passed the test the aged leader would subject him to in order to prove his claims of training.

First, he pointed out that he realized the 'folly of his ways' and he was a bad student so he would be using the two years to catch up on basic education – reading, writing, history, and basic subjects. He was an orphan so he would be fending for himself to know everything there was to know before going to the Academy since his peers had parents to teach them.

Second, it was also a good idea to postpone his attendance in the Academy since he wanted the people to get used to the idea of the "new" Uzumaki Naruto.

The Sandaime couldn't help but agree with the last one since it would take a LOT of time before the people would realize that he was no longer the prankster he was known to be.

Lastly, to drive his point home, Naruto informed the Hokage that he wanted to do this to honor his dead parents. This was the deal breaker, so to speak, which the old man grudgingly gave in.

Right now, Naruto was on his way to the library to get started with his 'study'. In truth, thanks to the change in maturity, he was able to compile everything he learned during his short years in Konoha to come up with a list.

He had no problem reading because the language used in the Elemental Nation was similar to the ones used by the people of Wutai. Of course, Sephiroth was well-versed in their language so that bled to Naruto.

Writing was not a problem but he needed to practice with a brush since the pens were not available. Ink and brush was a primitive way to write but who was he to complain. After all, there was a saying back during his SOLDIER days…When in Wutai, do what the Wutai's do.

Basic education was not a problem since everything Sephiroth knows, Naruto now knows. Mathematics, strategy, chemistry, battle tactics – you name it, Naruto knows it.

Considering that he had the basics down pat, his goal was to learn everything he knew about shinobi and the arts they practiced. The best place to do that was the library to check out the books he needed to read.

He was delayed a bit when he encountered the librarian, an old lady who hated his guts, why, he didn't know. A simple 'Confuse' was enough to stop her from throwing him out and ushering him inside the library as if he was her favorite. Naruto sighed in relief for having enough power to pull off a confusion spell. Useless in battle but would definitely work for a civilian librarian with no mental training whatsoever.

Thanks to the 'helpful' librarian, Naruto was able to list down the books he needed to look into regarding the shinobi arts. Such was the case; Naruto made a list of books to study that includes History of the Elemental Nations, Chakra, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Kenjutsu, and Fuuinjutsu. Most of the information was basic since the advanced ones were located in the shinobi section of the library that no civilian was allowed to enter.

Naruto made a mental note to ask for a pass from his surrogate grandfather later if it was possible. But for now, he would stick to the basics and work his way from there.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 1)

Naruto finished reading all the books on his list and couldn't help but compare everything he learned to Sephiroth's memories.

The various Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were similar to spells, except for Fuuinjutsu (Seals). It was categorized into elemental and non-elemental, combat to support, and so on.

Taijutsu was Martial Arts in his world while Kenjutsu was the Sword Art. He only got the basic info on them but it was enough to get him started.

He had no problems with Kenjutsu since his moves were stuck inside his head; he just needed his body to achieve the necessary strength to pull it off. Taijutsu, however, deserves some looking into since he was quite pants with hand-to-hand combat. He remembered Angeal pointing that out when he received one too many hits from Genesis during one of their mock spars.

His first month, however, was solely into the study of Chakra. Naruto learned that chakra was produced by the humans of this world. Shinobi were capable of using chakra after unlocking it at the age of six, the safest age to do so.

Using Sephiroth's memories as a base, Naruto was able to define Chakra as a combination of Mako and Magic. Chakra was capable of enhancing a person's strength and speed to inhuman levels depending on application – very similar to Mako.

Also, Chakra could be manipulated in a way to perform techniques similar to spells. This comparison made Naruto giddy. If he could channel chakra to augment his strength and speed then it was going to make his training more productive.

Using the instructions in the book, Naruto settled down on the grassy floor of his secret training ground and started to meditate. Before he could use this energy, he needed to locate his core to bring it out.

He couldn't wait.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 3)

Naruto finally found his chakra and he couldn't believe the size of it. It was huge, way bigger than his magical core. Despite the fact that a large core was a boon to any shinobi, the book also mentioned that a large chakra pool made it difficult to control, resulting in piss-poor performance in channeling it or increase the difficulty in using it to perform shinobi techniques.

After experimenting with it a few times – trying to channel chakra to enhance his strength and only getting minor results – Naruto decided to take advantage of chakra control exercises to ensure that he could use it effectively since he didn't have Mako to fall back on.

Unfortunately for him, the shinobi section of the library was guarded by a Chuunin. He tried to cast 'Confuse' on the man but the lack of magical potency made it impossible to even penetrate the guard's mental training. With that avenue closed to him, he decided to 'spy' on the many training grounds in Konoha hoping to get lucky.

It took a week to finally find the right training ground with a team of Genins being taught by their sensei. He was in luck to find the sensei getting started to teach his charges how to control chakra through an exercise called Tree Climbing.

The concept was relatively simple, Tree Climbing requires channeling chakra to the soles of one's feet to stick to the tree and walking up, keeping the chakra at optimum levels and avoid fluctuations to stick to the surface properly. Less chakra would cause you to fall; more chakra would push your feet away from the trunk.

According to the Jounin, this chakra control exercise not only made it possible for the Genins to utilize the most basic of shinobi skills (sticking to solid surface), it would give them an above average control over their chakra since it was difficult to channel the energy to their feet due to the lack of chakra nodes there. This in turn would allow them to control how much chakra was needed for techniques, making them effective in and out of battle.

Naruto happily memorized the lesson before adjourning to his training ground to try it out for himself.

It took a better part of the month for him to finally get the hang of the exercise. With the staggering amount of chakra in his body, it was difficult for him to channel small amounts to stick to the tree. He blew up a lot of trunks during that month but he persevered. He thanked whatever gods was listening for his ability to counter gravity to an extent or his bruised would have bruises from the many times he 'fell', regeneration be damned.

Despite achieving the feat of reaching the top of the tree, Naruto decided to master it to the point that he could do it as reflex. This took another month to accomplish but he was satisfied when he was done.

To test himself, he spent the whole day stuck to a tree, walking up and down, side to side, and upside down while reading a book.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 6)

Naruto walked out of the store with his purchase – a set of chakra weights for his physical training program. It took him quite a while to buy them since they were expensive, a set costing an average of 24,000 ryo. The better the chakra metal used, the more expensive it was.

As it stood, 24,000 ryo was the most expensive which he specifically chose since he would be using it for a VERY long time. He had to save all the orphan allowance he got from the Sandaime and cutting down on his ramen spree while supplementing his lack of noodles with vegetables and meat from the forest surrounding the village.

Unlike his past persona, he started eating healthy though he still treated himself twice a week for a bowl or two of ramen just to satisfy his cravings.

It took him two months to buy a set but it was worth the hunger he suffered for it.

Anyway, he used a Confuse spell on the attendant so he could buy the weights without question. Despite the lack of physical training equipment, he spent the whole two months after mastering Tree Walking improving his magic.

By saturating his body in magic every minute of the day, he was able to achieve average strength in spell casting. He couldn't hope to use the basic Elemental spells effectively but he could now utilize his Support Magic at full strength.

In most cases, he mostly used Confuse to get into the library or to buy items without getting overpriced; or Haste, Slow, and Stop when out hunting so he wouldn't have to exert much effort in bringing down his next meal. He also had fun using Warp to travel to and from his apartment and training ground to avoid detection.

Also, he started practicing Sephiroth's fighting style to commit them to muscle memory, mostly Kenjutsu with a stick instead of Masamune since he was still too weak to handle the nodachi without breaking his wrist. He supplemented this with the basic Academy Taijutsu thanks to the 'helpful' librarian pointing it out to him.

He didn't bother making it battle ready since that was impossible at this point but it had the side-effect of letting his body get used to the movements and committing them to muscle memory.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 8)

Naruto was sweating like a pig after finishing his 10th lap of running around his training ground behind the Hokage Monument. He was already six years old and neck deep into his training program. He only had 16 months left before attending the Academy so he didn't want to waste any time doing anything useless or unproductive.

It was properly scheduled too in order to give his body time to adapt to his training.

Morning from Mondays to Saturdays was spent with physical training with his weights on – jogging, push-ups, pull-ups, sprinting; and practicing with his hand-to-hand and sword moves.

Afternoon was spent at home reading the various books he pilfered from a storehouse he found behind the library. It was pure luck that he followed the librarian put some old books away from the shinobi section in a shed behind the building. Naruto checked the books out and grinned from ear to ear when he saw moth-eaten scrolls and manuscripts of shinobi related subjects ranging from taijutsu training to jutsus.

Without a second thought, Naruto teleported into the shed and stored all the books into his pocket dimension so he could read them in the safety of his home, before warping back out with no one the wiser.

He laughed himself hoarse when he heard that there was a thief somewhere in the village stealing old books from the library. Of course, people kept an eye on him due to his record but they couldn't find any evidence. The books were in his pocket dimension so his apartment was devoid of the stolen manuscripts. His trip to the library was done in front of everyone so they knew he didn't take anything.

In other words, Naruto got away from this act scot-free. Besides, the books were going to be disposed anyway so he was just recycling them for his use.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 12)

Naruto had been training for a year now and he couldn't help but be satisfied with the results. Sure, it was a tad slow compared to how fast Sephiroth breezed through Shinra's modified training program under Professor Hojo, but Naruto was happy nonetheless.

He was currently wearing 20 pounds of weight on each limb, totaling to 80 pounds on top of his body weight. He sighed in relief when he read that it was NOT a good idea to start weight training more than 50 pounds on each limb below 10 years old since that would hinder the trainee's growth. He didn't want to end up a shrimp, thank you very much.

Because of the weights, physical exercise, and going through taijutsu and kenjutsu katas; he was stronger than the average Academy student. He could lift Masamune but wielding it was a different story since the first time he did it left him eating dirt due to its weight and the force he exerted on the downward swing.

However, his strength doubled when using chakra, making it easier for him to swing the oversized nodachi but it was a handicap he didn't want to rely on since he didn't want to become too dependent on chakra's strength enhancement capabilities.

If he was going to wield the thing then he would be doing it on his own physical strength or die trying!

To counter this problem, Naruto carved a heavier wooden sword though this one was half the length of Masamune since he was too small to effectively wield a six-foot nodachi.

Thanks to the books he "acquired" from the library, Naruto took advantage of the many jutsus there to prepare himself for the Academy. He started with the basic chakra-based techniques, namely the _Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Technique), Henge no Jutsu(Transformation/Disguise Technique),_ and _Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)_. He didn't have any problem with the first two but he was stumped when it came to the last one.

No matter how much he tried, his clones always came out like a pile of goop. It was an improvement if they came out pale with the consistency of rubber.

According to the scroll, _Bunshin no Jutsu_ requires miniscule amount of chakra, which was the reason why it was introduced as a basic technique to Academy students with small chakra reserves as an introduction to ninjutsu.

Considering the size of his chakra supply, Naruto theorized that he needed a better control exercise in order to properly use the illusion-based clone. Sure, he could create hundreds of them without denting his chakra pool but he needed to fine tune his technique to create a single clone without overloading the construct.

It took a week of sorting through the books he stored in his handy pocket dimension until he discovered the next step after Tree Climbing…Water Walking.

Since he didn't have any body of water anywhere near his training ground, he had to travel to one with a waterfall on the other side of the village. He considered the sprint to get there as a speed exercise if nothing else. If he was pressed for time then he would use Warp to get there and back.

Fortunately for him, there was a hidden cave behind the falls so he could practice in peace without being discovered. Considering his reputation, he didn't want the villagers to rat him out and put a stop to his plans.

It took a month but he got the Water Walking exercise down pat. It took longer than Tree Climbing because he had to experiment with the output of chakra and stabilizing it under the water so he could stay on the surface without sinking. He decided to master it the same way he did with Tree Climbing to get the most out of the exercise.

Despite his improved chakra control, he still couldn't make a single clone. Sure, he could now make a dozen of them without overloading the construct compared to his early hundreds but a single clone was still beyond his grasp.

After a month of laboring over the technique, Naruto decided to set it aside for now since he could take up the problem again while in the Academy. Who knows, one of his teachers might be able to help him out, if they didn't hate him that is.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 14)

Naruto was standing on top of a pole in the middle of the Uchiha district as he looked at the carnage below. He was cloaked in an invisibility spell so no one could detect his presence as he listened in on the Hokage and the various shinobi littering the Uchiha Compound as they tried to determine what happened.

From what he discovered, Uchiha Itachi murdered every single member of his clan but spared his brother but not before scarring the boy using a powerful genjutsu that Naruto knew would forever changed the young Uchiha. If his theory was correct then Uchiha Sasuke would be turning into another Sephiroth if no one was there to help him cope with the massacre.

Shaking his head at the unnecessary loss of life, Naruto jumped down from his perch as he channeled a bit of magic to slow his descent, landing on the ground with nary a sound. With a sigh, he went back to his apartment to get some rest. He would be training again tomorrow and he needed all the sleep he could get.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 18)

Naruto was currently in the Forest of Death running for his dear life. He decided to follow through Sephiroth's training program to include live opponents to practice his spells. He sprinted up the tree to a branch high above the tigers chasing him.

When he got to a safe height, he held out his hand towards his targets then whispered out a spell.

"**Fire****."** A fireball the size of a man's head flew out of his hand in a burst of magic, speeding through the air at Chuunin-level speeds to hit one of the tigers, turning it to ash on the spot. He raised his other hand above his head and brought it down as if throwing something.

"**Blizzard****."** A small iceberg appeared on top of the panicking tigers before turning five of them into pancakes as it dropped on them before freezing the area around the impact zone.

It was a month ago that Naruto finally stabilized his body to be a better conductor to his magical core. After months of practicing his spells, he was able to bring out his offensive arsenal with a bit of kick into it. If he was to measure its potency, it was at 30% compared to what Sephiroth could do.

Naruto knew that the more powerful non-elemental spells were still out of his reach but the basic elemental spells, like Fire, Water, Thunder, and Ice were a cinch for him to bring out with devastating results.

Sensing an attack coming from behind his perch, Naruto whispered a defensive spell without bothering to turn.

"**Wall****"** A prismatic barrier appeared behind him as a tiger was about to shred his back with its claws. The defense spell held as the tiger comically hit it, flattening its face on the constructs surface, before slowly falling to the ground as gravity took hold.

Naruto snickered upon seeing the comical tiger before deciding to end the battle with a multi-target spell since he could feel his body reaching its limit.

"**Thundara!**" the blonde shouted as bolts of concentrated lightning fell down from the sky to strike the tigers on the forest floor, electrocuting them to death. Some who were hit with the more potent lightning bolts were burned to ash in a second.

Naruto gave out a tired grin as he panted, tired from the amount of magic he channeled through his body. He realized that despite his large core, his body couldn't handle the amount of magic flowing through it without sapping his strength. If he wanted to bring out the heavy duty spells then he definitely need a stronger body and that meant…

"Oh well, more training for me then." He sighed as he vanished out of the forest with a whispered 'Warp'

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Month 23)

Naruto stared at his reflection in the mirror. He didn't know why he didn't notice it before but there was a seal on his stomach. He didn't study Sealing as of yet but he DID memorize the commonly used ones, like Storage Seals and Explosion Tags.

After racking his brain for an hour, he saw a few strokes on the seal on his stomach that was similar to Storage Seals. If it was there then there was a HUGE possibility that the seal was for storing something. The question was – what was it holding?

He tried different tactics to determine the extent of the seal.

Channeling chakra directly to the seal caused it to materialize.

Putting a bit of magic there made him feel as if he was on fire. He didn't know why but he decided against DIRECTLY channeling his magic there. Sure, he could channel it on his skin but as long as he didn't visualize putting magic on the seal then he was safe.

With a sigh, he pulled down his shirt as the complex seal on his stomach disappeared upon stopping the flow of chakra to it. He knew that it was there for a reason but as long as it didn't hurt him in any way, he would ignore it.

For now.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto let out a huge yawn upon waking up from the blaring of his alarm clock. Today was the day he would attend the Academy. Sure, he was late but he didn't care. He didn't mind that he would end up being the eldest in the class as long as he was in it.

He didn't want to get up today but he had to if he wanted to make a good impression towards his teachers in the Academy. He wasn't a suck up but he would be damned if he would stand out for being late. His actions for the past two years made him careful on who was looking at him. As much as possible, he would be staying the background learning everything he could without drawing attention.

Besides, a shinobi lives by the creed of deception so he was just keeping in practice when he graduates.

He was still a bit tired and sore from last night. He celebrated his last day of training by going into a royal rumble of sorts in one of the dangerous sectors in the Forest of Death, a place where ANBU feared to thread unless they were in a large group.

After 8 hours of intense battle involving lots of destructive spells being casts and some of the more vicious predators being cut down by his now-light Masamune, he warped himself home, took a short bath to get the blood off then immediately went to bed. He was happy with the outcome of his 2-year training program but he was too tired to care.

Last night's rumble with the animals in the forest practically drained him dry of chakra and magic.

Shivering slightly from the cold shower as he exited his bathroom, he toweled himself dry as ha faced the mirror. He smirked upon seeing his physique.

He was lean and muscled, not bad for an 8 year old. He was developing quite nicely on the chest and shoulder but he made sure that he didn't go beyond the suggested training so he was flexible and lithe. He shuddered as remembered Angeal before his madness. The man was like a body builder and he had no intentions of becoming like him.

He also allowed his hair to grow. He wasn't aspiring to have a hairstyle similar to Sephiroth but he definitely wanted the silken quality of the man's hair. It took a lot of doing but he was able to get rid of the spiky locks with some help of a pair of scissors, shampooing it every day, and combing it until it dries after a bath. It was still standing but it was no longer as prevalent as before. He deduced that if he let his hair grow some more then it be more manageable than his previous hairstyle.

Naruto opened his wardrobe to check out the clothes he had in his collection, deciding what to wear for the Academy. His savings grew since he refrained from spending on useless things and his food was mostly supplemented by the animals roaming the forest outside the village walls. Since he didn't need any training equipment as the Academy would be providing them, he decided to spend it on clothes. A judicious application of the Confuse spell ensured that he wasn't bothered during his many shopping trips. The shopkeeper even thanked him after his purchase.

Service was indeed excellent in Konoha.

After a few minutes of checking out the selections, he decided to mimic his predecessor but with a bit of a twist. He opted for a pair of loose black pants, gray muscled shirt, and topped it off with a black jacket. He wore a plain belt on his waist and finished the outfit with a pair of combat boots he purchased from a merchant from Iron Country during a festival in the village. He pulled out a weapons holster and strapped it on right thigh. He observed himself in the mirror and couldn't help but smirk. He definitely looked the part.

To complete the outfit, he reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a standard set of 10 kunais and shurikens before placing them on his holster. He didn't really need it but it was better safe than sorry.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Academy First Year – 3 months later)

Naruto felt like banging his head on the table. The reason for such an urge was how the lessons were being taught. Instead of teaching them the skills to survive outside the village and during missions, the teachers were more interested in cramming their heads with history than practical skills.

Sure, they had weapons throwing and spars but it wasn't enough. If they wanted to have the best Genin in the business with the best chance of surviving in missions then they needed to do away with their current teaching method and shape up.

However, Naruto knew that if he did voice out his concerns, no would listen. After all, why would they listen to an 8 year old boy who entered the Academy late?

Naruto restrained himself from raining down lightning on the droning Umino Iruka before sighing. He needed to come up with a new schedule to train himself, again! If this was how the Academy was run then he was better off doing things his way.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Academy Third Year)

A 10-year old Naruto finished of the last of his sandwich as he relaxed in one of the hidden branches on the tree in the middle of the Academy training grounds. His three years in the Academy was boring. The teachers were more interested in studying than honing the aspiring Genins' physical abilities. Naruto came to a cold realization that quite a lot of his classmates wouldn't last a year after graduation if they didn't do after-school training like he did.

The minority that would survive belonged to the clan heirs. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at how fortunate he was to time his entrance to the Academy. He definitely liked the fact that his future comrades would be well-trained and ready for the real world.

Unfortunately, there were a few among the clan heirs that needed to shape up before ending up dead. He noted three of them and they were Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino, and Hyuuga Hinata.

Naruto was correct that Uchiha Sasuke would be similar to Sephiroth after the massacre of his clan. The boy was always brooding and would treat his soon-to-be-comrades like dirt. He also didn't like the fact that the villagers treated the Uchiha survivor like a prince, showering him with praise and worship that was only reserve for this world's gods. He even saw the boy demanding those older than him to teach him their skills when he find something interesting or out of his reach – all for the sake of killing his brother.

How a boy could hope to defeat a man who slaughtered everyone in his clan except for his brother? He would never know.

All in all, he didn't like the pompous Uchiha one bit and Naruto was thankful that he decided to be lackluster in his position in the Academy to avoid letting the boy set his sights on him.

Yamanaka Ino was definitely a fan girl, an Uchiha fan girl to be precise. The girl was a disgrace to her family's legacy. If she doesn't shape up and train them she was going to be in for a short career.

Last, but not the least, was Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto was quite confused of the girl. He knew that Hinata was strong and could be stronger still. She reminds him a lot of Cloud's teammate, Tifa Lockheart. However, the girl was holding herself back with her timid and shy self. She also has confidence issues that needed to be addressed.

Naruto, however, decided against helping the girl. It wasn't his concern so who was he to butt in on other people's business.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(Academy Fifth Year)

"I only asked for _one_ clone, Naruto, not twelve." said Iruka, shaking his head in exasperation as he looked at the twelve clones his student brought out.

"As I told you before, Iruka-sensei, no matter how much I try to minimize my chakra consumption for the technique, twelve illusionary clones is the best I could come up with. You would be having problems too if you have as much chakra as I do." Naruto grumbled.

Iruka sighed. He couldn't help but agree with the boy. He was a sensor so he definitely knew how potent and large Naruto's chakra was. In fact, Naruto's chakra rivaled a Kage, which was quite amazing.

"Fine. You either need to undergo more advanced chakra control exercises or you need to learn other clone techniques." Iruka mused as made a few notes on his clipboard.

"You mean there are other clone techniques?" asked Naruto in surprise though he shouldn't be since if there was an illusionary clone then there was bound to be other kinds as well. The books he acquired hinted it but nothing specific.

"Of course. _Bunshin no Jutsu_ is considered as the basic of the basics." Iruka started in his 'boring voice' as the students dubbed it. "Other shinobi villages have their own unique clones. For example, Kiri is well known for their _Mizu Bunshin (Water Clones)_, Iwa for their _Iwa Bunshin_ _(Rock Clone)_, and Konoha for _Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones)_, though the latter is classed as a kinjutsu because of the high chakra requirements."

"Kinjutsu?" Naruto asked curiously. This was the first time he heard of the term.

"Forbidden techniques," Iruka answered absentmindedly. "Techniques that are deadly to use or requires an extreme amount of chakra a normal shinobi doesn't have. Quite a lot of shinobi died in using kinjutsus without knowing what it entails. Most of them suffered extreme chakra exhaustion and didn't survive from it."

"A clone technique that requires more chakra sounds like the solution to my problem, right Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said slyly making Iruka give him a condescending smile.

"Sorry, Naruto. I can't teach you the _Kage Bunshin_ since only the Hokage can give you permission to learn that. The other two I mentioned is a no go too since I don't know the hand seals or their schematics. Some Jounins might know but I definitely don't." Iruka admitted.

"Meh, not a problem, Iruka-sensei. I'll figure something out." said Naruto as he made his way back to his seat with a smile on his face, already deciding to visit the Hokage later for the possibility of learning another clone technique in order to pass the Academy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Let me get this straight. You want me to teach you the _Kage Bunshin_ since you won't be able to pass the Academy's graduation exam without a clone technique, correct?" the Sandaime clarified while studying the smirking face of his surrogate grandson.

"Correct, old man. As I told Iruka-sensei earlier, I can't go below twelve illusionary clones with the chakra control I mastered." Naruto said with a nod.

"Hm, I could teach you Tree Climbing and Water Walking to help you out." the aged leader mused causing Naruto to give out an embarrassed coughed. He looked at the boy pointedly. "You already know them, didn't you?" he accused.

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault that _I_ happen to pass by a training ground where a Jounin is teaching Tree Climbing or Water Walking to his students." Naruto said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. He lying of course since he _purposely_ spied on said Jounin "If they wanted to keep it a secret then they better pick a hidden training ground or something."

"Uh huh." said the Hokage, not believing the boy one bit.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Naruto deadpanned before assuming a hurt expression. "Oh woe is me. My own surrogate grandfather doesn't believe me. Oh woe is me."

"Har har. You're not very convincing." Sarutobi gave the boy a mock glare. "Tell me how far you've gotten with the two exercises?"

"Fine. Ruin my fun, why don't you?" Naruto said with a huff. "To answer your question, I can walk up and down a tree for three hours while reading a book. I can also stay on top of the water for three hours while doing the basic Academy Taijutsu katas. I think I got the two exercised pegged to perfection if I do say so myself."

Sarutobi gaped at the boy before composing himself. "I guess you pretty much mastered them if you can do it that way." He sighed. "Fine, you win. However, if I'm going to teach you the _Kage Bunshin_ then you need to promise me two things."

"They are?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"One, you're not allowed to teach it to anyone without my express permission."

"Agreed." Naruto nodded. "The second?"

"You will be helping me with my paperwork until you graduate the Academy every afternoon when school lets out."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "How am I supposed to train if my time is occupied helping you in your paperwork? I barely have enough as it is."

"Well, the _Kage Bunshin_ is not your ordinary clone. When it dispels, everything it learns and experiences are transmitted to the caster. You make a clone or two to train while you help me out." Sarutobi said smugly, enjoying the dumbfounded look on the blonde's face.

"Wait a minute. If _Kage Bunshin_ can do that then why don't _you_make some clones and deal with your paperwork."

The silence in the room was palpable.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Sarutobi exclaimed in surprise and annoyance.

Naruto didn't say anything but continuously banged his head on the table.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was on his way home when he stumbled upon training ground 9. A girl with twin buns on her head was going through kenjutsu katas, sweat glistening on her arms and face as she gracefully shifted between stances. He didn't know how long he stood there, mesmerized at the way she handled her weapon – a basic katana if he was correct.

He decided against disturbing her but the call of engaging in a sword fight was definitely winning. Sure, he had his clones to fight with every day after learning _Kage Bunshin_ but it couldn't hope to compare to the satisfaction of crossing blades with a live opponent. His urge for a sword fight won in the end. He changed direction towards the girl before stopping at an acceptable distance.

"Hello there." Naruto called out to the girl.

Said girl paused as she shifted her head to look at him. "Yes?"

"I couldn't help but notice the fluidity and grace of your swordsmanship and I was wondering if you don't mind crossing swords...for practice of course." Naruto was laying it on thick since flattery worked in this kind of situation.

The girl raised a dainty eyebrow, which Naruto found quite cute, before a smirk crossed her face.

"I would if you have your own blade with you."

"Ah, let me remedy that then." said Naruto as he raised his hand and grasped the handle of a materialized Masamune. He could help return the smirk when the girl gaped at his sword.

"Where in Kami's name did that come from?"

Naruto paused before answering. "I have a storage seal on my hand where I hid all my equipments." He lied but the girl wasn't buying it if her doubtful look as anything to go by.

"I don't think so, buster. As far as I know, smoke is always associated with removing items from a seal." the girl pointed out as she moved closer and examined the blade with an expert eye. "This is a perfectly crafted nodachi. A bit long for my taste but whatever floats your boat. Are you a shinobi?"

"Not yet, I'm in my last year at the Academy. If I pass the exam in two months then I'll be a Genin. And you?"

"Genin for almost a year now." the girl said, her eyes not leaving the blade before shifting her gaze towards the owner of said blade. "What your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto at your service." Naruto said with a nod of his head in greeting. "May I get your name, miss..."

The girl chuckled. "No miss here. Call me Tenten." she said with a grin. "Now that you have your weapon, why don't you show me what you got, Naruto."

"Indeed." He said with a smile before jumping back gracefully, his blade to the side in a ready stance. He made a 'come hither' with his free hand. "Shall we get started then?"

Tenten grinned as she dashed forward with a horizontal swipe but stopped when Naruto deftly countered it by raising his. Both blades made a loud clang that reverberated across the training ground.

"How long have you trained?" asked Tenten while trying to overpower her opponent but couldn't. Heck, the boy was holding onto his blade with one hand and he was holding his ground. "Quite strong." She murmured to herself but Naruto definitely heard it.

"I've been training with Masamune for two years now." Naruto answered, not finding the need to tell her that his past life was a swordsmaster.

"You gave your sword a name?" Tenten asked with a bit of disbelief. Naruto face took a serious expression, unnerving his opponent.

"If there's one thing I learned in handling a blade, giving it a name makes it more special to you, thus allowing you to do more with it than treating it like a mere tool." he explained coolly as he channelled a bit more strength to his arm and completed his swing, pushing Tenten back with a startled yelp. "Now that we have our warm-up, let's go all out, shall we?."

Naruto rushed forward, Masamune held in a thrust that threatened to impale his opponent but Tenten parried it to the side with expert ease while managing to change her grip on her blade for an overhand slash. Naruto saw it coming from a mile away, brought the sword back and parried the incoming blow that would have cleaved his skull. He grinned as the sound of steel over steel sang to his ears. He raised his free hand to block a kick from a grinning girl who used her position to get in a blow or two.

"Feisty. I thought this was a kenjutsu match?" Naruto asked mildly before pushing Tenten's blade back and returned it with a horizontal swipe which the girl evaded by jumping back out of range, increasing the distance between them.

"You didn't set parameters for the fight." she answered immediately, going into a defensive stance as she sensed her opponent was going to get serious. She was right too.

"You're right but I don't mind." said Naruto as the sword fight continued.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Where in the world did you learn to wield a sword like that?" said a very tired and bruised Tenten. She couldn't help admire the blonde for his unorthodox kenjutsu style. It was unpredictable, swift, and accurate. She couldn't count the number of times she 'died' during their spar as the blonde seemed to switch to the blunt side of his 6-foot nodachi. This didn't mean that the blonde was left unscathed. His jacket was literally gone since no amount of repair would make it usable. His pants were sporting quite a lot of slices and with no belt in sight thanks to her efforts. All in all, it was a very invigorating spar. It was quite obvious that Naruto enjoyed it too with the grin he was sporting.

"I came up with it on my own." Naruto answered, telling the truth somewhat since he was the one who came up with it. He didn't bother to give it a name since it wasn't necessary.

Tenten stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "I can safely say that you're not lying. I can plainly say that your style is unique and I studied quite a lot of kenjutsu styles being a weapon mistress so I know you're style is practically a new one. Your moves were wide, leaving you open for attacks, but you incorporate speed and unpredictability to your movements that you can turn your weakness into strength, drawing your enemies in for the kill. It is definitely powerful."

"Thank you. Coming from a weapons mistress such as yourself, I'll take that as the best compliment there is. You're right in your assessment; my style involves wide movements, speedy and accurate attacks, and a lot of feints. Took quite a while to get it working and to be honest with you, this is my first time to test it in actual battle."

"You're pulling my leg!" exclaimed Tenten in disbelief.

"I kid you not, Tenten." admitted Naruto. "That is the reason why I wanted to spar with you since I want to see how my style would fare to a fellow swordsman. I hope you don't mind if we do this often since I can see both of us improving in our respective styles if we put it to practice often enough."

"I'll definitely agree to that but I need to make sure I have the right weapon for it." said Tenten as she brought up her blade to reveal quite a few nicks on the edge. "I don't know what Masamune is made of but I can safely say that it's practically the hardest and most resilient metal this side of the Elemental Nations. I thought it was made of chakra metal when you fired off a chakra attack that almost sliced me in half."

"I'm sorry if I destroyed your katana, Tenten. I would be more than happy to pay for the repair job. And if that is not possible, I can buy you a better one."

Tenten shook her head before giving the blonde a grateful smile. "No need. This is a test blade. My main weapon is currently being serviced by my dad. I earned a B-rank pay last week and I earned enough money to upgrade my weapon to make it better."

"Your dad is a blacksmith?" Naruto asked with some surprise.

"Weaponsmith actually. My dad is Higurashi Kaito. We own the Higurashi Weapons Shop. I am proud to say that we are the best in the business." Tenten said proudly. "So, if you need any weapons, come by the shop. I'll give you a discount."

"That would be most appreciated, Tenten." Naruto said gratefully before noticing the sun on the horizon. "It's getting a bit late so I better head home. I need to freshen up for my daily personal training before resting up for the Academy tomorrow."

"You train outside the Academy?" Tenten said, amazed at the dedication of an student.

"Of course." Naruto replied dryly. "If I want to survive outside the village, I need to train my butt off considering the Academy seemed to coddle the students instead of preparing them."

"Noticed that I see." Tenten said dryly. "That is one of the reasons why our sensei held off our participation in this year's Chuunin Exams since he found our skills….unyouthful."

"That…a unique way of putting it." said an amused Naruto. "At least your sensei trains you to become proficient, if not, powerful shinobi. I daresay that next year's Chuunin Exam would be a breeze for you."

"You can say that." Tenten agreed. "Anyway, shall we do this again…let's say…next week?"

"You can count on it, Tenten." said Naruto as he stood up with Tenten doing the same. "Thanks for the spar and looking forward to the next one."

"Same here, Naruto...-kun…same here." she whispered wistfully as he eyed the blonde back moving away from her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The concept of 'like', or its more serious counterpart, 'love', has always been an alien concept for Naruto. Sephiroth's memories didn't help him with his…attraction towards Tenten since the platinum-haired warrior never felt these two emotions in his entire life.

Naruto enjoyed his weekly spar with her and he could see the two of them improving as both strove hard to outdo each other. With each meeting and with each clashing of blades, Naruto was slowly starting to look at the weapon mistress to something more than a friend.

Naruto had a few 'precious people' in the village, namely the Ichiraku Family, the Sandaime Hokage, the ANBU Inu and Neko, and just recently, Tenten and his dad, Kaito. The latter was introduced to him by his daughter after their third spar when Naruto mentioned that his kunais were starting to look a little blunt.

Kaito was a no-nonsense man and was quite skilled with metal. He greeted Naruto courteously and catered to his needs, not like the other shops in the village. In fact, Naruto felt quite at home with the Higurashi Family as he visited the shop after every spar.

Naruto also saw Tenten as one of his precious people now and would sometimes find himself staring at her well-built form more times than usual. He even mustered the nerve to ask her out to dinner once which she accepted graciously. She practically wore an amused expression the whole night when he sheepishly brought her to Ichiraku's for a ramen dinner, telling her that he didn't know any good restaurants in the village; though he didn't tell her that it wasn't because he didn't have the money to try them out but the fact that they didn't want to render him service. He didn't mind since he knew how to cook and cook well. The forest around Konoha was well-stocked after all.

The blonde swordsman also met Tenten's sensei and team. He was almost traumatized after experiencing the Hug of Doom courtesy of Maito Gai and Rock Lee when they greeted him enthusiastically, hugging him in their spandex-wearing glory. Thankfully, Tenten was able to bail him out or he would have cut them to ribbons.

Despite the close call with insanity, Naruto liked Lee and Gai since both were geniuses of hard work and were quite sociable if they didn't start with their Rants of Youth. He didn't like Neji though. He refrained himself from slicing the Hyuuga Prodigy to ribbons since he knew that Tenten needed a stable team for the coming Chuunin Exam.

Naruto's personal training also progressed faster thanks to his newly-learned clone technique. After learning that he could bring out a hundred or so of them in one go, he maximized his training regime to the point of being called extreme. He took advantage of their memory transfer ability to indulge himself in chakra control, reading the books he acquired from the library, honing his taijutsu, and improving his master over his spells.

The blonde reached such potency in his magic that he was able to summon Ifrit on his first try though it left him quite winded afterwards. He knew that the more powerful summons was still far from his reach but he wasn't in a hurry. At least he could now do the second-tier elemental spells with ease while working his way to the final and more powerful third-tier spells. He also mastered Freeze and gleefully used it on the many predators in the Forest of Death.

Thanks to his Kage Bunshins freeing a lot of his free time as well as delegating the non-physical aspect of training to, Naruto found a hobby in inventing. He experimented in combining chakra, magic, and the Sealing Arts; experiencing various success and failures, spurning him to new heights.

His first successful experiment was a Hybrid storage seal that could store an unlimited amount of items without breaking down. He practically gave one to Tenten since the one she was using was limited. The kiss on the cheek as thanks was welcome after giving it to her and demonstrating its use. He made a special point of experimenting more useful items for her just to experience another kiss.

Kaito also pounced on the idea and contracted Naruto to issue him a few of these hybrid storage seals for sale. The blonde accepted the idea since he needed money to fund his experiments – sealing supplies were quite expensive – but on the condition to only sell them to Konoha shinobi of Jounin and above since he didn't want it to be used against the village.

It was safe to say that Naruto netted quite a lot of money and orders for his Hybrid Storage Seals. Thankfully, Kaito was tightlipped as to who was supplying the seals so Naruto wouldn't be placed in the limelight. Tenten also promised that she wouldn't say anything about it to Naruto's relief and happiness.

His second experiment was the creation of a transport vehicle of sorts since he didn't want to use warp all the time and the spell was limited to him alone, he couldn't take any passengers with him even if he tried. He already had a small model successfully flying around his apartment but making a life-size one for it to be useful was still in the experimental stage. Sure, he was successful in combining chakra and seals to allow the 'machine' to absorb ambient energy and using it as a floatation method but making one to power a larger machine was still out of his reach. He didn't quit though.

He was also successful in creating what he called a 'Spell Tag' by combining magic, chakra, and seals; he was able to create a storage device that could store magical energy in the form of a spell. Using an application of chakra, the user could release the spell from the tag and fire it at an enemy. He was currently successful in creating first-tier elemental Spell Tags but he kept it to himself since he didn't want the villagers getting their hands on it. He might be able to sell them off in the future but that would be later when the villagers no longer hated him.

He did, however, gave a set to Tenten to be used in case of emergencies. He got a kiss on the cheek again much to his happiness.

Speaking of which, Naruto also found out why the villagers hated him. It was by accident that he discovered the purpose of the seal on his stomach.

After overhearing a few shinobi casually talking about his past pranking exploits, they mentioned in a hushed whisper that his vaunted stamina may possibly stem from the Kyuubi he contained in his gut. That revelation spurred Naruto to dig into the history books and finally made the connection of his birthday and the defeat of Kyuubi.

The Yondaime Hokage didn't kill the Kyuubi. He sealed the most powerful bijuu inside a child.

To Naruto's mind, this was similar to how Sephiroth was injected with Jenova's cells by Professor Hojo of Shinra, altering his personality to become The Destroyer he was known to be. Fortunately for him, the Yondaime was a master of seals that he was able to come up with a way to safely seal a powerful chakra demon into him without the beast taking over or altering his mind.

If he was honest to himself, Naruto didn't hate the Yondaime since he would have done the same thing the man did if he was faced with the decision. To him, the Yondaime was and always will be a hero in his eyes.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto yawned as he watched the taijutsu portion of the graduation exam. He was quite bored of watching the lackluster fights of some of the aspiring Genins taking down their opponents while waiting for his turn to be called.

The graduation exam was composed of four tests, graded accordingly to determine their rank upon graduation, the highest awarded the Rookie of the Year and the Kunoichi of the Year.

The first test was a written test that Naruto had no problems with. He was quite amused at how Mizuki placed a subtle genjutsu on his test to make him fail. A slight burst of magic was enough to counter the technique and reveal the real test behind the illusion. He didn't have trouble with the exam since it was quite easy. He could even answer the ones Mizuki gave him i due to his studies in the shinobi arts and his experience as Sephiroth.

The second portion of the exam was a weapon proficiency test, more specifically, an accuracy test involving kunais and shurikens. The test involved hitting the targets on the stationary dummies around the Academy Training ground. He almost laughed himself silly when Mizuki's face turned to a color of puce when Naruto accurately hit all the targets right on the center with the weighted kunai and shurikens he was given. Naruto knew that the man hated him and tried to sabotage his exams, hoping he would fail. He would have none of that though but had no plans of retaliating since he wouldn't stoop to the man's level doing so.

They were currently in the third test, a taijutsu test. They would spar against their senseis. They weren't required to defeat their 'opponent' but more along the line of surviving for five minutes. Extra points were given if they were able to land a critical hit. Iruka and Mizuki administered the tests. Naruto watched as his classmates took turns trying to survive the instructor's attacks with some of them doing it easily, and in Shikamaru's case, lazily; while the others failed spectacularly.

The clan heirs had an edge due to their family training them so all of them passed with flying colors, even Sasuke.

Naruto raised an eyebrow when Sasuke was able to get a good hit on Mizuki's stomach that would have downed a lesser man. It was quite obvious that the white-haired Chuunin threw the match since the opening was quite obvious. The blonde didn't mind though since his main goal was to pass, not the rank.

He knew that ability and skill mattered in the field, not the rank.

He scoffed when instead of his turn, Mizuki called Yamanaka Ino into the field and paired her off with Iruka. It would seem that Mizuki wanted a hand in making the 'demon brat' fail. An evil smile made its way to Naruto's face. Mizuki would definitely rue the day he messed with Uzumaki Naruto. He would make sure of that.

When Ino reached the five minute mark, Iruka called the match to a halt and making notes on his ever-present clipboard before calling out the last match of the day.

"Uzumaki Naruto, please come up and take your test."

"Hai, Iruka-sensei." the blonde said calmly as he strolled towards the ring. He saw Mizuki grinning evilly at him.

"Alright. Your goal is to survive for five minutes. If you land a hit on your opponent then you will be given extra points depending on where you hit. Understood?" Iruka explained.

Naruto nodded. "Clear, Iruka-sensei."

"Good. Now…start!" Iruka called out and was shocked when Mizuki shot forward at top speed towards a calmly standing Naruto. He was about to berate his co-instructor but held his tongue at what happened next.

Naruto calmly watched Mizuki dash towards him at top speed. To his peers, they would have seen the man disappear but to his trained eyes and honed instincts, Mizuki was moving in slow motion. He grabbed the fist that was about to liquefy his innards, positioned himself under Mizuki's guard and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming the man on the hard ground on his back. Wanting to get the exam over the done with, Naruto positioned himself beside the downed man and landed a chakra-enhanced elbow on the man's stomach causing him to scream before blacking out.

Nodding at a job well done, Naruto brushed off the dirt on his pants before walking out of the ring while ignoring the hushed whispers of an Academy student taking down a seasoned Chuunin in two moves.

"Uh…winner by knockout, Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka managed to get out before hastily scribbling on his clipboard.

Naruto grinned like a loon as he made his way to his favorite tree to wait for the next exam, not noticing the speculative and questioning looks being aimed at him by an Aburame and Nara clan heir.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Alright, Naruto. For the ninjutsu portion of the exam, you need to perform the _Henge_, _Kawarimi_, and _Bunshin_." Iruka informed the smiling blonde in front of him. "I take it you have a solution for your Bunshin problem now?"

"Of course, I did say I'm going to find an alternative to that weakness." said Naruto with a grin on his face.

Iruka sighed. This day had been tough on his nerves. The blonde blew all of his expectations as he assumed the boy to do all the tests with passing scores as he did with the previous ones, average scores like the previous years. He was flabbergasted when the boy did everything perfectly, easily outclassing the Rookie of the Year candidate, Uchiha Sasuke. Out of all the aspiring students in this batch, it would seem Naruto took the shinobi code of deception to extremes.

"I kind of expected for you to say that. It was quite obvious you were hiding your strength considering how you knocked Mizuki out in two moves. You didn't have to hit him too hard, you know." Iruka said in an amused tone.

"Well, he was the one who went all out at me, sensei. I just returned the favor, so to speak." Naruto pointed out with a smirk with Iruka doing the same.

"Point. Alright, perform the three techniques please."

Naruto nodded as he channeled his chakra. He didn't bother with handseals since he already mastered the basic Academy techniques after meditating how the chakra was formed to activate the jutsu. He shimmered as his form shifted to that of the Sandaime Hokage. "What do you think, Iruka-sensei?" he asked, perfectly mimicking the aged leader's amused drawl.

"Perfect. You even got the voice down." Iruka noted. "Would you mind telling me how you performed the transformation without the handseals and smoke?"

"Well, I focused on how the chakra was molded and practiced with it a few times until I got it down perfectly. I don't know how I got rid of the smoke but maybe that is because I mastered the Tree Climbing and Water Walking exercise so my control is that good. Not good enough for a Bunshin but good enough for other techniques it seems."

"Um, understood." Iruka said with a sigh. He should have expected this already. It was clear that Naruto was definitely more than what people thought he was. "Do the Kawari…nevermind." He growled out as he took notes, ignoring a grinning Naruto in the corner of the room after replacing himself with the broom that was now in front of the now-grouchy instructor without bothering with the handseals. Really! He should have expected this already. "Let's get this over with. Do the Bunshin, Naruto."

Naruto replaced himself with the broom, depositing himself in front of the scar-faced Chuunin. He channeled his chakra and produced a solid clone of himself. Because of his everyday use of _Kage Bunshin_, he could now control how many clones he wanted to make without bothering with the specialized handsign. Really, it was just that easy to perform.

"Good enough, sensei?" Naruto asked cheekily while Iruka grumbled.

"Cheeky punk. Fine, you pass. How did you…nevermind. Knowing who you are, you definitely asked the Hokage and I don't even want to know how you persuaded him to teach you the technique. Anyway, you pass! Congratulations." said Iruka with a smile as he took a Leaf Forehead Protector from the stash on the table and presented it to the grinning blonde. "You deserve this, Naruto. I know you're going to be one the best shinobi of the Leaf. You make me proud."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." said Naruto as he tied the Leaf headband on his forehead as he adjusted his bangs to set it properly.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Troublesome blonde." grumbled Shikamaru when he sat beside Naruto underneath his favorite tree.

"What got your underwear in a knot, Shika?" asked an amused Naruto, closing the book on seals he was reading.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Why did you hide your true strength? It was quite obvious that you bulldozed your way through the exam and you weren't even trying. You even took down Mizuki in two moves." urged Shikamaru while eyeing the sighing blonde.

"You're too smart for your own good, Shika." grumbled the blonde. "I guess it all boils down to deception. A shinobi should never show his skills unless necessary. I guess I just took it to extremes."

"You could have easily been the Rookie of the Year with your skills." the Nara heir pointed out. As it stands, Uchiha Sasuke got the award thanks to his scores the previous years. If Naruto applied himself then it was obvious that he would be taking that rank.

"I'm not concerned with that useless title." Naruto scoffed. "Being Rookie of the Year doesn't give you an edge in the field. It all boils down to skills and determination. The title doesn't earn you success, it's just a title. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Fine. You made your point. I still think you're better suited for the title."

"That's what you think, Shika. I have no desire to be in the limelight. I only showed my true skills during the exam because I wanted to graduate with a bang." Naruto said, grinning all the while. "Consider it as my last prank."

"Last prank?"

"The villagers, and by extension, some of the shinobi hate my guts. They ignore me because I showed average grades the previous years. Since I would be a Genin anyway and under the Hokage's command, I have no reason to hide anymore. I imagine they're gritting their teeth in frustration right now knowing that I passed the exam while outshining their precious Uchiha Prince."

Shikamaru sighed. He should have expected this answer considering who he was talking to. "Fine. You're troublesome, you know that, right?"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, boya." Naruto said smugly to Shikamaru's irritation.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto groggily made his way to the front door of his apartment after being woken up by the banging. He opened to the door to see three of the Hokage's personal ANBU.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do than wake me up at…" he looked at the watch hanging by the kitchen wall. "two in the morning?" he grouched.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby under arrest for the theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals."

Now that woke Naruto up. "For what now?" he deadpanned.

"I said.." one of the ANBU repeated but shut up when the cat-masked ANBU slapped him on the back of the head. "What?"

"The Hokage ordered us to take Naruto to him, not to arrest him on sight." Neko bellowed at Bear before turning to an amused blonde. "Naruto-kun, could you please get dressed. The Hokage wants to see your immediately."

"Fine. Give me five minutes." said Naruto and was about to head to his bedroom when he realized something. "Since I am being implicated for something I didn't do, why don't you come in and wait."

With that said, Naruto went to his bedroom and put on his usual gears grumbling about idiot ANBUs for ruining his beauty sleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Alright, old man, what gives? I was having a nice dream before your ANBUs woke me up." Naruto complained upon entering the office but stopped when he saw the serious look on the man's face. "Let me guess, someone stole the Forbidden Scroll of Seal and that someone wore my face."

The Sandaime nodded. "I know you didn't steal the scroll, Naruto-kun, since I know you better than that. However, I needed you here to avoid implicating you further. I just received word that 'you' are currently making your way outside the village with the scroll. Considering you're here in front of me, I can safely say that you're not the culprit."

"Uh, that's good…I think." The blonde said finally smirking at the Hokage. "Can I go after him?"

"I don't think that is a good idea, Naruto-kun. Despite being one of the top graduates of your batch, you're still a Genin. Whoever stole the scroll is either Chuunin or Jounin level."

"That's what you think, old man." Naruto smiled as he used a silent Scan to sniff out the thief's signature. He smirked when he recognized it. "Tell you what, I'll just mosey along and capture the traitor and bring him to your for interrogation?"

"Do you know who took it?" the Hokage all but demanded to the smirking blonde.

"I recognized the signature in the room."

"You recognized…you're not a sensor, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi pointed out.

"Again, that's what you think. Anyway, I'll be back in a jiff, old timer." said Naruto as farewell before using Warp to exit the room and following the trail of the traitor wearing his face.

Sarutobi stood watching the place where Naruto was before he…disappeared before snapping at the three ANBUs. "Go find Naruto and make sure he's safe." he ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." the ANBUs shouted in unison before exiting the room in a blur.

"That boy is going to be the death of me." He grumbled before pulling out his crystal ball and activating the technique to determine where his surrogate grandson went.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Mizuki was grinning like a loon as he jumped from one tree branch to another at top speed while carrying the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. He had to resort to wearing the demon brat's face when he stole the priceless heirloom of Konoha since the boy didn't fail the exam, ruining his plans. Good thing he had a backup plan which was quite successful. A few more kilometers then he was home free to deliver the coveted item to his lord and master. However, that plan went down the drain when a booted kick hit him on the side of the face that threw him down to the ground with a loud crash, letting go of the scroll in the process.

He groaned as he painfully pulled himself off the ground and shook his head to clear the dizziness away. He looked up to see something that made him growl.

"You!" he screamed at the boy he just implicated for the theft. "What are you doing here?"

"Why good morning to you too, Mizuki-teme. You know, out of all the faces you could have worn to steal the Forbidden Scroll, why does it have to be mine?" Naruto asked calmly as he placed the large scroll on his back, held there by a leather sling.

"I have nothing to say to you, demon." Mizuki growled as he took out the large shuriken on his back, preparing himself to bring down the blonde. "Why don't you be a good demon and give me the scroll before I kill you?"

"Let me think about it…" Naruto pretended to think about it before giving the man a smirk. "Nah, I think I'll take this back to the Hokage. But first, since you woke me up from my beauty sleep, I think I need to teach you a lesson about bedtime manners."

"You don't scare me, brat! Die!"Mizuki screamed as he threw his overly-large shuriken at the smirking blonde but was shocked when said boy grabbed the flying weapon by one of its blades when it came into his reach. "What the…?"

"Tsk tsk. You're supposed to be a Chunnin, Mizuki-teme. That is not how you use a windmill shuriken. Here, let me show you how it's done." said Naruto as he drew himself back and flung the weapon towards the traitor who jumped out of the way to avoid being decapitated by the furiously spinning projectile.

Mizuki was shocked when his weapon cleaved two trees before lodging itself deeply on the third. "You finally show your true self, demon." He snarked, hoping to take the boy off balance.

"Demon? I assure you, Mizuki-teme. I am 100% human." Naruto said with a smirk. He knew that the man was talking about Kyuubi sealed in his gut, mistaking him for the demon instead of the container. He also knew of the Sandaime's law concerning him and the sealed bijuu. _"Come on, teme, say it. Give me an excuse to take you out."_

"Hah! You're not a human. Do you even know what you are?" Mizuki taunted, an evil grin on his face.

Naruto adopted a confused expression. "Huh? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Now this is rich. The demon doesn't know why he is hated by the village." Mizuki exclaimed, grinning manically. "Do you even know why you're hated? Do you know why the villagers treat you like a pariah?"

"Well, I think _that_ has something to do with my pranks. I assure you, I already stopped my pranking sprees." Naruto assured him, playing along and acting oblivious to what the man was implying.

"I'm not talking about your pranks, demon. The reason why you are hated is because you are the demon that attacked the village twelve years ago. You're the Kyuubi!" Mizuki shouted expecting the blonde to be shocked by the revelation. What he expected didn't happen since the blonde was now looking at him coldly.

"You think I don't know why I am hated, Mizuki-teme? You think I didn't know that the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside me? I found out months ago and I am not the Kyuubi. I am its container, dumbass!" Naruto snarked though he knew it was a useless effort to prove the man's word wrong.

"Hah! Of course you wouldn't admit it." Mizuki scoffed before taking out a kunai. "Now die, demon!" he threw the kunai at the blonde.

Naruto sliced the projectile in half effortless with Masamune before disappearing from his perch and appearing in front of startled Chuunin. He kneed the man on the face that broke his nose before landing a spin kick to the man's face.

Mizuki managed to right himself to land on his feet, skidding back a bit due to the strength of the kick. He flipped through handseals.

"**Katon: Grand Fireball."** A large fireball flew out of his opened mouth towards the blonde who merely changing its direction with a flick of his blade.

"That's the best you can do, Mizuki? Let me show you what a real fireball looks like. **Fira**!" Naruto yelled as he threw out his hand causing three large fireballs to materialize before flying straight at the startled Chuunin who barely had time to flip through the seals for a defensive technique.

"**Doton: Earth Style Wall!"** shouted Mizuki desperately as he slammed both of his palms on the ground causing a wall of earth to shoot out in front of him. It didn't do any good since the fireballs struck the construct with such force that he was thrown back from the explosion and shockwave.

"**Stop!"**

Mizuki didn't know what happened when he felt his body freeze. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't move an inch.

"Don't bother struggling, Mizuki. My spell placed you in a time bubble. You won't be moving anytime soon unless I free you from it." Naruto said coldly and was about to make mincemeat out of the man when Neko and the rest of the Hokage's personal ANBU appeared to his left. "Took you long enough."

Neko was amazed at how a fresh graduate from the Academy was able to stop someone of Mizuki's caliber. Sure, the man was merely an Academy instructor but he was a Chuunin, clearly someone stronger than a Genin in both skill and experience.

"What happened here, Naruto?"

"I was able to intercept, Mizuki, before he could reach the village's boundary." Naruto replied before removing the scroll from his back and throwing it to the cat-masked ANBU. "Here's the scroll, Neko-neechan."

Said ANBU caught the scroll and recognized the chakra signature telling her it was genuine. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. What did you do to Mizuki?" she asked before spotting the nodachi in Naruto's hand. "Where did you get that sword?"

"I placed him in a time bubble. He won't be moving anytime soon unless I cancel the spell." He said with a shrug. He raised Masamune to show it to his favorite ANBU guard. "This is Masamune, my trustee partner." He answered before returning the nodachi to his pocket dimension. He moved behind Mizuki and gave his neck a good chop, knocking him out before canceling the spell. Without the time bubble keeping him up, the man slumped to the ground unconscious. He lifted the man in a fireman's carry. "Why don't we go to back to jiji. I'm sure he has question he wanted to ask concerning the traitor and why he stole the scroll."

Neko nodded and gestured for the ANBU to leave for the tower and was about to do the same for Naruto but already found him gone from the area.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Considering that he was carrying someone, Naruto decided to use Haste to speed himself up, appearing as if he teleported out of the forest. It took a few minute for him to appear outside the Hokage's door and entered without even bothering to knock.

"Here you go, jiji! One traitor ready for interrogation." Naruto said cheerfully before unceremoniously dumping Mizuki on the floor and taking a seat in front of a startled Hokage.

"And the scroll?" asked the Sandaime after regaining his bearings while thinking _"How in the world did the boy overpower a Chuunin?"_

"I gave it to Neko-neechan." Naruto replied with a shrug. "She should be here any minute now…"

As if on cue, Neko and the two ANBU guards appeared in front of the Hokage. She was carrying the scroll of seals causing the Hokage to sigh in relief.

"Hokage-sama, we were successful in retrieving the Forbidden Scroll from the traitor. Naruto…" she paused after finally noticing said blonde on the chair waving at her. "Um, right. Naruto-kun took care of Mizuki but gave me the scroll for delivery."

"Thank you, Neko. Take Mizuki to Ibiki and Anko. Tell the two of them to wring the man dry of any information they can get out of him. Return to your posts afterwards. I don't want to be disturbed as I talk to Naruto." He ordered.

The ANBUs saluted before exiting the room in a trademark Konoha _Shunshin_ of smoke and leaves, taking an unconscious Mizuki with them.

"So, what do you want to talk about, jiji?" Naruto asked though he already knew what his surrogate father was going to ask.

"There a lot of things I want to talk to you about, Naruto-kun. Some along the line of clarifications than interrogation." said Sarutobi while returning the Forbidden Scroll in one of the secure vaults in his office, ensuring that it won't be stolen anytime soon due to the Blood Recognition Seal keeping it locked tight. He returned to his chair and leveled his surrogate grandson a proud smile. "But first, let me congratulate you on the success of your first unofficial B-rank mission – apprehending the culprit and the return of the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. You can drop by tomorrow for your pay."

"Uh, great." said Naruto in shock. A B-rank pay was equivalent to two month's wage for a regular civilian and then some. He was definitely going to be buying a lot of supplies for his experiments. "Thanks a lot, jiji."

"You deserve it, Naruto." the Sandaime, nodding to the boy before his face turned serious. "I don't doubt that you singlehandedly took care of Mizuki since Neko didn't report otherwise. I know that it is almost impossible for a fresh graduate from the Academy to bring down an experienced Chuunin of Mizuki's caliber. I know you trained a lot before and during the Academy but I want to know the extent of your skills."

"Hm, you know that's a tough order, jiji. As a shinobi, it is necessary for me to hide my skills even from you." Naruto said cheekily before his face turned serious. "However, I trust you, old man. There are some things I can't tell you, not yet anyway, but I'll give you a general idea what I can do. Is that alright?"

"I wouldn't have it any less, Naruto-kun. You definitely took the creed of deception to a whole new level if you managed to hide your abilities for this long." Sarutobi said with pride. "I will respect your decision but I need to know the gist of your abilities so I can properly place you in a team. From what you showed me tonight, I daresay you're above Genin with your capture of Mizuki"

"You know, beating Mizuki isn't really that difficult." Naruto pointed out. "He was all bark and no bite. All it took was one kick to the head, smashing his nose in with a knee, another kick, and freezing him in place…that's it actually. Oh, let's not forget the chop to the nape that rendered him unconscious for transport."

"Uh huh, you mentioned something about freezing him in place. Did you mean you used a jutsu to incapacitate him?" the Sandaime asked curiously.

"I'll get to that." Naruto promised. "About my skills, as you said, I trained for relatively 8 years in total – two years before attending school and six years after that with no plans of stopping anytime soon. My physical training involves the use of chakra weights to improve my core strength and speed. My taijutsu is a derivation of the Academy Taijutsu, modified it to include feints, grappling, and high-speed strikes to incapacitate my opponent. I don't have a name for it yet though. I am also proficient in kenjutsu." He summoned Masamune to the shock of the aged leader. "This is Masamune, a 6-foot tall nodachi that has been my partner all this time. She's a beauty, ain't she?"

"That she is." Sarutobi murmured as he eyed the magnificent in his grandson's hand. Even the way he held the blade spoke of familiarity, and dare he say it, mastery as well. "Where did you get that blade, Naruto. As far as I can tell, it's not made here in Konoha since the shops here don't usually sell nodachi-class blades."

Naruto nodded. Thankfully, he already thought of this line of questioning so he decided to toy with it a bit. He didn't want to reveal his past life as Sephiroth but he already came up with an idea on how to divert the old man's suspicions.

"To be honest, old man, I really don't know how I manifested Masamune in the real world. One day I was training, she just appeared in my hands." said Naruto, schooling his face into that of amazement. "The same day I got her, I also noticed that I could do certain…jutsus that are quite powerful. I ransacked the library for what happened but all I can easily say that it might be a bloodline of sorts."

The Sandaime's face grew skeptical. "A bloodline? Naruto-kun, bloodlines don't just appear out of nowhere. I can safely say that your parents didn't have any, well, except for your mother anyway if what she can do can be considered as bloodline. You can say she's an oddity among her clan."

"You know my parents?" Naruto asked immediately, his face expectant.

Sarutobi sighed. He didn't expect to tell the boy so soon but he guessed that Kami forced his hand if nothing else. "Your mother is Uzumaki Kushina from Uzushio. She was brought here during the onset of the Third Great Shinobi War. Your father…is Namikaze Minato."

Naruto immediately recognized the name. How couldn't he since it was the name of his idol. "What? My father is the Yondaime Hokage? You mean to tell me that he sealed Kyuubi inside his own son?"

"How did you know about the Kyuubi?" Sarutobi asked in shock. He didn't expect the boy to know of his burden already. Sure, he planned to tell the boy after he graduated from the Academy but he didn't expect his surrogate grandson to already know about it.

Naruto gave the aged leader a look that spoke volumes. "It's not really that hard to figure out, jiji. After all, I hear the words 'demon brat', 'demon', and 'fox boy' to name a few from the villagers. It also didn't help that they hate my guts and had no problems showing it." he noticed the old man wince but didn't comment about it. "I also looked into the history of Konoha and found it interesting that my birthday was exactly on the day the Kyuubi was defeated. That and the fact that I have a seal on my stomach that appears when I channel chakra. I just connected the dots and found out the truth."

"I see. I was hoping to tell you this when you graduate from the Academy. In fact, that is one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you." Sarutobi admitted, inwardly sighing in relief since the boy was taking it so well. "So, how did you react when you found out?"

Naruto shrugged before relaxing further into the comfortable chair. "I don't blame my dad for sealing the bijuu inside me, jiji. After all, he was the Hokage and a leader should always be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to protect his followers. Dad just took it to extremes." He said with a grin mimicked by his surrogate grandfather "Anyway, you mentioned something about my mother having a bloodline?"

"Well, it's not really a bloodline but an oddity. In fact, all Uzumaki, you included, have a body-based bloodline of sorts ever since the Uzumaki Clan formed in the Elemental Nations. The Uzumakis are known to have potent life force, resulting to a healing factor, larger than normal chakra reserves, and more potent chakra compared to your average shinobi. Your mother is an oddity since she had this ability to create chains made of chakra that had the power to even subdue the Kyuubi. In fact, she was container of the fox before you." Sarutobi informed the boy. "Oh yes, the Uzumaki Clan was feared for their use and prowess of the Sealing Arts. In fact, that is one of the reason why Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri banded together to wipe them out."

"My mom was the first container?" Naruto asked with wonder. He didn't know that this was a family gig, not that he minded since he felt happy that his father trusted him with the burden of holding the most powerful bijuu in the Elemental Nations. Now he knew that reason why Sealing came so easily to him. It was in his blood and a part of his legacy.

"No, your mother is the second container with you being the third. The first container of the Kyuubi was Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage." He informed the shocked blonde in front of him.

"Alright, this is definitely a family thing so that makes it sweeter." Naruto exclaimed with a childish grin on his face.

"I don't know if I should be worried that you're taking this quite calmly."

"Meh, I don't think it would be productive if I freak out or reap vengeance on the villagers for how they treated me. If I did then I'm just proving them right and I have no intentions of doing that."

"How…mature of you, my boy." the Sandaime said proudly to Naruto who smiled at him. "Anyway, anything else you noticed about your bloodline?"

"Well, aside from Masamune, I can also do something else with my chakra. After meditating with it for a bit, I found out that I have another source of energy inside me." He saw the look the man was giving him. "And no, it's not the Kyuubi."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I can't really say but the energy came from me and not from the seal since I can also detect a form of energy there that was quite potent and powerful compared to my own. I don't know what this energy is but I accidentally did a…um…I think you can call it a spell for the lack of a better term." Naruto said with a shrug.

"A spell? You mean like magic?" Sarutobi asked in disbelief.

Naruto huffed defensively. "Hey, I was seven years old when it happened so blame my childhood imagination. I called it spells since it is similar to those movies I watched, where heroes can throw fireballs and such without hand seals. In fact, I can do a lot of things with it that you could classify as ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"Is this how you incapacitated, Mizuki?"

"Oh yes, it is a spell I call 'Stop'. It places my target in a time bubble of sorts that freezes them in their place. I can also do elemental spells, like Fire, Ice, and Thunder."

"Are you sure you're not going crazy on me, my boy?"

Naruto shook his head and threw his hand out towards the open window. "**Fire!**" a fireball the size of a man's head flew out of his outstretched palm and out the window. He also channeled his magic throughout his body to make himself float while in a sitting position, startling the Hokage. "Oh yeah, aside from spells, I can also counter gravity enough for me to slow down my fall and to float a bit. Speaking of which. **Float!**" he targeted the spell on the Hokage making him yelp as he mimicked Naruto floating on top of his seat.

"Damn, I believe you. Now can you please cancel your…spell?"

Naruto nodded and lowered the two of them back to their seats. "Anyway, I can do a lot more with it after a bit of experimentation but I can show you some of them later if we have the time. Oh yeah, I'm also dabbling in Seals a bit and had a few successful experiments that might interest you. In fact, one of them is being sold by Higurashi Kaito in his shop."

Sarutobi pondered on that for a bit before realizing what Naruto just revealed to him. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you were the one who made the hybrid storage scroll that is being sold to Jounins?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's my first successful experiment actually. I came up with the idea when Tenten, Kaito's daughter, complained about her storage scroll having limited capacity and the telltale smoke during unsealing. I messed with it a bit until I was able to make one with unlimited storage capacity and removed the smoke. It's selling like hotcakes but I don't want it to be a common item so I limited its distribution to Jounins and above. Kaito and I also agreed to limit the stocks since I don't want it to end up in the wrong hands. I also modified the thing a month ago to integrate a blood recognition seal so it won't be used against our shinobi." Naruto informed the shocked Hokage before making a face. "Let me tell you, it was a bitch adding the storage seal since I didn't know we sold that much already. Thankfully, my shadow clones helped so I was able to get it all done in a week."

"Uh huh. Any other experiments I should know about?" asked the Hokage with some trepidation. _"I need a drink later. This boy is going to be the death of me."_

"One successful experiment and another one in progress. The former is something I call the Spell Tag – a fusion of chakra, magic, and seals – that allows the user to use a spell for each tag. I have one for Fire, Ice, and Thunder. I can give you some to test out of you like." The Hokage nodded resulting in Naruto pulling out a few seals from his pocket dimension and laid it on the table. "The red one is the Fire Spell Tag, the blue is the Ice Spell Tag, and the yellow is the Thunder Spell Tag. I consider those the first-tier spells because anything more powerful destroys the sealing matrix so I'm working on it."

"How do they work?" the Hokage asked curiously, studying the Fire Spell Tag with a speculative eye. The seal was quite complex and he could sense something powerful within it.

"All you need to do is channel a bit of chakra to it to activate and throw it to target. Here let me show you." said Naruto as he grabbed a Fire Spell Tag in between his index and middle finger, channeled a bit of chakra to it, and threw it towards the open window. The tag flew straight like an arrow before transforming into a fireball similar to what he used earlier. "See? Simple."

"Amazing. You are definitely a genius in the Sealing Arts." Sarutobi praised the boy since such tags would be a great boon to some shinobi who weren't proficient in elemental ninjutsu. A literal jutsu-in-your-pocket. "Why didn't you sell it?"

"I haven't came up with a way to control its use, jiji. What if a missing-nin with a grudge against Konoha got his or her hands on these? That would be a disaster. No, I don't think I'll be selling this anytime soon. I gave a dozen of each to Tenten for her use and here's yours. Other than that, all my Spell Tags are in storage for me to use in case I run out of juice."

"Understandable. You mentioned another experiment?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to make a transport device using seals. I have a small model, around a feet in length and half of that in height, as a test model. It can float and all but anything bigger or heavier than that is a no go." A thought occurred to him. "Which reminds me, who owns the apartment I'm using, jiji?"

"Why do you ask?" the Hokage steeled himself. The boy was definitely going to be the death of him if he continued to make the impossible possible.

"Well, since I'm the only one living there, might as well make use of the space. I was thinking of buying the entirety of the building and the grounds if it's for sale, turning it into a laboratory for my experiments since my living room and bedroom is not big enough to accommodate it. I can save some money or maybe you can sell it to me in an installment basis?"

"Well, the land is owned by the village so you can say that I own it. I can sell it to you at discounted price. You don't have to worry about money since your parents left you quite a sum before they passed away."

"You don't say?" Naruto asked with some surprise and curiosity.

"Your parents were powerful shinobi, Naruto-kun, and they amassed quite a bit of a fortune with their missions. In fact, your orphan stipend was one way of me giving it to you since you're not allowed to make withdrawals due to your age. Now that you're a Genin, I can have the bank transfer the authority of the money to you if you want since you're already considered an adult."

"That would be great, jiji. Can you sell me the apartment and just deduct the amount from my inheritance? How much did my parents leave me anyway?" he asked curiously.

"Well, the last statement told me that you have something of an excess of 50,000,000 ryo. The manager of the bank was kind enough to give your parents a nice interest rate to keep it growing. It's a good thing you're planning to buy the building since your parent's house was destroyed during the Kyuubi attack, taking everything your parents own with it." he said sadly causing Naruto to nod in understanding. "All in all, that's the entirety of your inheritance. I also have a few of your father's notes on Seals he kept inside the vault here in my office so I can give it to you if you promise to be careful with it."

"Wow! That's quite a lot of money and I can promise you that I'll be careful with my father's notes." Naruto said with some amazement, mentally thanking his father and mother for funding his current and future experiments. He wasn't sad about the house but he was dismayed that none of his parents' stuff survived the Kyuubi attack. He was, however, excited of his father's notes on Seals. "How much is the apartment building?"

"Since the place is old and in serious need of repair, I can sell it to your for…let's say…5,000,000 ryo?" Sarutobi said with some amusement since the boy's jaw was relatively hanging from the amount. He walked over to the vault where he kept the Forbidden Scroll and took out a thick notebook containing Minato's studies on Seals. He tossed it to Naruto who caught it easily.

"Thanks for this, old man. Are you sure you're going to sell me the building at such a low price? Considering the size of the land and the building, I can easily say that you're more than giving me a discount."

"Yes, it is. Consider it a graduation gift from me to you, my boy."

"Wow! Thanks a bunch, jiji. I don't know what to say."

"Just promise me that you're going to be careful with your experiments, Naruto-kun. Sealing is a complex and dangerous art. One wrong move then BOOM!"

"Don't worry, old man. All my experiments are done by shadow clones so I'm relatively safe in that regard." Naruto promised causing the Hokage to sigh in relief.

"That's good then. Anyway, I think I kept you from your sleep long enough. I'll have to stay up for a few more hours to finalize the team assignments for tomorrow. Why don't you go home and rest."

"Sure thing, old man. I'll keep you updated with my experiments when I have the chance. Good night." said Naruto as farewell before teleporting out of the office leaving a dumbfounded Hokage to shake his head in exasperation.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, worked his way until the early hours of the morning finalizing the team assignments for this year's batch of newly-graduated Genins. He did a lot of revisions with the teams thanks to the recent revelation of Naruto's real abilities.

What he learned was quite shocking and the boy practically threw all of his assumptions and theories out the window. He couldn't help but be amazed at the boy he considered a grandson and how he matured right before his eyes.

For the first five years of the boy's life, Naruto was a prankster and a knucklehead. However, it's like a switch was flipped that made the boy change overnight. He blamed it on the event that landed the boy in a very deep pit outside the Forest of Death with a split scalp. Thankfully, it was already healed due to his Uzumaki healing factor coupled with the Kyuubi's chakra flowing through his veins.

The boy definitely changed, asking for a postponement of his enrollment into the Academy for two years since he wanted to be prepared when he attends. If that surprised him, he was definitely shocked when he learned of his surrogate grandson defeating a Chuunin in an all-out-battle, revealing his abilities that placed him a few pegs higher than his peers, a bloodline that allowed him to use elemental and support techniques without hand seals, and not to mention that intimidating sword of his. He couldn't help but look at the boy while envisioning a powerful warrior that would make hardcore shinobi tremble in their sandals.

He was also proud of the boy's maturity when informed about the Kyuubi. Sure, the boy already knew about it but the fact that his father sealed the most powerful entity in the Elemental Nations inside his body was definitely an eye opener and he couldn't help but puff out his chest in pride when he praised the man for the sealing instead of downright hating him for the life he went through.

No, Naruto could never be called a boy. He was a man, a full-fledged shinobi of the Leaf. He was sure that Uzumaki Naruto would make a mark in history that would put his parents' achievements to shame.

He looked down at the team rosters on the table and couldn't help but nod in approval. It was difficult rearranging the teams but he decided that it would be worth it in the end. He created a shadow clone to finish up before using _Shunshin_ to take himself home for a short nap.

He needed all the rest he could get considering who he was going to deal with tomorrow.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was still sleepy when he was woken up by the blaring of his alarm clock. He immediately teleported home last night since he wanted to get a few hours of sleep before going to the Academy for the team assignment. He, however, created a clone to read his father's notes on Seals before going to bed. He might be tired but he was very much excited on what his father wrote in that notebook of his.

He warped to the bathroom and subjected himself to a cold shower to really wake himself up. He enjoyed the bath before exiting the shower and observed himself in the mirror. He was quite happy of his growth. He was quite tall for a twelve year old, standing at a respectable height of 5'5 with his body sporting muscles that would put an athlete to shame. He was careful with his physical training since he didn't want to bulk up. He was built for both strength and speed without the bulky muscles Barret, the leader of Avalanche, sported. Oh no, he won't be turning into a hulk of a man anytime soon.

Toweling the excess water that clung to his long hair that almost reached the middle of his back, he made his way to his bedroom and changed into an outfit he prepared in advance when he made it to Genin. It was similar to Sephiroth's outfit but totally different.

Instead of an all black ensemble, Naruto decided to change it to white instead. He removed the metal shoulder guards since he didn't want it impeding his movements. The only black in his outfit was the black pants and steel-plated boots.

All-in-all, he looked quite intimidating.

He exited his bedroom and created a clone to start with breakfast. He made his way to a hole in the wall that led to the adjacent apartment where his study and experiment room was located. He found his clone furiously taking down notes on a new notebook he kept in stock just in case.

"Found anything useful? Nevermind, dispel and give me the memories." Naruto instructed before the clone dispelled itself and his mind assaulted by an influx of memories. He couldn't help but drool at what discovered from his dad's notebook. It was amazing. "Damn, I knew dad was good considered he could seal the Kyuubi alone but I didn't know he was this good."

The notebook was Namikaze Minato's life's work on the Sealing Arts. All his experiences, modifications, and creations were recorded there down to the tiniest detail. Naruto was quite amazed that his dad could come up with unique concepts that even he, with his vaunted intellect and imagination, wouldn't have thought of. His father definitely taking the Sealing Arts to the next level with him doing the same – in another way of course. His father's achievement and research would be invaluable to his experiments. One of the seals there would definitely help him in his project in coming up with a flying vehicle for his use. He was drooling at the possibility.

Naruto glanced at the corner to see that he had an hour before the team assignment would begin. He decided to go ahead with his plans and created a dozen clones.

"Alright, guys. I'm going to go to the Academy for team assignment. I want one of you to go to jiji and get the deed for the property. The sooner we get the property signed over to me, the sooner we can start renovating. Three of you will go through my father's notes and concentrate on the ones that would help in our experiments. The rest of you try to come up with a way to modify the seal matrix to accommodate second-tier elemental spells and possible some of the barrier spells." Naruto instructed.

"Hai, taichou!" chorused the clones before going to their respective tasks.

Naruto nodded before going to the kitchen to fix himself something to eat before going to the Academy. With the commotion last night, he definitely worked up an appetite that would put Chouji to shame.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was making his way to the Hokage's office after Iruka told him to meet with the Sandaime for further orders regarding his placement as a Genin of Konoha.

The blonde reincarnation of Sephiroth couldn't believe it. He wasn't assigned a team!

The team assignment was finished, his friends and classmates already being informed who their teammates would be and their respective Jounin senseis. However, he was shocked when he wasn't mentioned but was informed that he needed to see the Hokage for furthers.

He didn't bother with the secretary who was glaring at him, walked past her and unceremoniously opened the aged leader's office to see him smoking his pipe with a smile on his face

"What gives, old man? Why in Kami didn't I get a team?" he demanded from the man he considered as grandfather in all but blood.

"Why don't you sit down, Naruto-kun. I will explain my reasons why I didn't assign you a team and I have a proposition for you that would make it worth your while."

Naruto raised an eyebrow but complied, tapping the floor with his foot as he waited for the explanation.

"I spent the whole morning deciding what to do with the teams and your…abilities would pose quite a bit of a problem with any team you end up with." He started causing Naruto to bristle but held up his hand to silence whatever the blonde was going to say. "I didn't say it as insult or anything Naruto-kun but answer me this – you think your capabilities would compliment a team? Any team for that matter?"

Naruto paused and really thought about what the Hokage said. Considering how much he revealed to the Sandaime last night, he couldn't help but grudgingly agree that team dynamics would be strained considering what he was capable of. In truth, he would most likely destroy the team and some would even consider it as him showing off. In another note, any team he was assigned to would be overpowered, not by their actions but mostly on Naruto since he would end up doing anything they couldn't, destroying their chance of growth. He sighed in exasperation.

"Fine. What do you suggest, old man? History states that all graduates from the Academy are assigned to a team since Konoha is well known for its teamwork."

"That's true, my boy, but you yourself is a team already. With your shadow clones, you could do anything a team could. You can overpower them to be more durable and you could keep on bringing them out if one of your clones dispel." Sarutobi pointed out. Naruto grudgingly nodded and prompted the aged leader to continue. "Now, I won't be assigning you a team nor will I be assigning you a sensei. What I want is to give you a position."

"A position?" Naruto asked, now very curious as to what the aged leader was up to.

"Yes. Your various experiments got me thinking. It would be a travesty if I let your abilities and discoveries hindered by a team. Such is the case; I am going to start a new department in the Konoha Military with you spearheading it." the Sandaime said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"I'm listening."

"The department will be a research and development division attached to Konoha ANBU. Your job is to work with a few plans I have for the improvement of Konoha while serving as a back-up team for any missions that requires aid. This will be treated as a long term S-rank mission and every successful discovery and experiments will be considered a mission with varying ranks. For example, if you developed your Spell Tags after your assignment then you would have been awarded a B-rank mission pay."

"Wow. That's a grand plan, jiji. Are you sure you want to put me in a position as its head?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Absolutely, Naruto-kun. Not only did you prove your capabilities as a shinobi, you also showed me that you inherited your father's knack for inventing and your mother's talent in seals. With these two combined, you will go far, my boy."

Naruto nodded. He couldn't help that he was excited in being given a reason to invent. He was limited to what he could come up with but with the Sandaime's backing, he would be doing a lot for his village.

"I definitely accept the position, jiji. However, what about work hours and training?"

"I already took care of that. You will be working for 8 hours at ANBU headquarters. I already have a laboratory prepared for you as we speak. I will be assigning you three ANBU guards to help you with anything you might need, as well as helping you keep up with your training. Except to be pulled out anytime for a mission."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "So I take it I won't be hiring any helpers since I will be conducting all my research and experiments using my shadow clones, correct?"

The Hokage nodded with a smile on his face. "Correct. Considering your chakra reserves, you can practically bring out an army of them to help you in your tasks. So no, you are your own department."

"Tasks? Don't tell me you already have a project lined up for me?"

"That I do." the aged leader nodded. He pulled out a folder from his drawer and slid it across the table for Naruto to reach. "I think that is enough for you to start with. I will have more for you if I have need."

Naruto curiously opened the folder and perused the contents. In it were various projects the Hokage wanted done for the betterment of the village. Some of them would be easy, requiring only a few tweaks, while the rest would requires hours of research to pull off. He was itching to get started. He saw the last project in the folder and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"I see that you want me to complete my transport vehicle." Naruto said with a sly smirk on his face.

"That I do. I don't doubt your capabilities, Naruto-kun. I know you can do it. I'm just giving you an order to proceed. If you read down, you will see why I wanted this project to succeed."

"Logistics. Not only that, this would make it easy for our shinobi to bring reinforcements to other teams in a hurry without wasting their energy and time on traveling to and from their destination. Definitely a benefit. You mentioned that you don't want it mass produced. Why is that?"

"The vehicle will only be used if the occasion demands and not for anything else. We might use it for dignitaries but other than that, I don't want my shinobi getting lazy because there is an easier way to get from point A to point B. No, I don't want it mass produced. I think six of them would suffice."

"I agree. I guess all I can say is that I accept your offer, Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a deep bow. "Now…who's going to take me to my office?" he said cheekily making the Hokage laugh.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It has been two months since Naruto was given the position in the new Research and Development Division of ANBU and he couldn't deny the fact that he was quite happy. He knew that this was going to be difficult since he would be starting from scratch but with the Sandaime's backing, he had all the resource he needed to get things done without suffering any setbacks.

The first of the two months was busy prepping up his new laboratory. It was located in a hidden location housing the entire ANBU contingent of Konoha. It was safe to say that he was in the most secure location in the village and he preferred it that way considering what he was going to invent in the future.

His first task was combing through Sephiroth's memories of his apprenticeship under Professor Hojo. Despite the man being a warmonger and a demented scientist, the Shinra employee was a genius and passed most of his knowledge to his successful experiment. Naruto was fortunate that his past life had a photographic memory so everything he learned was accessible to Naruto for his use.

The first thing he created was a computer since he needed something to facilitate his many future projects. Thankfully, he knew how to get it done but it took quite a while to get a working model up and running due to the lack of technology for its creation.

It took thousands of clones, hours of sleepless nights, and a lot of reading and experimenting with seals that he finally managed to put together a working computer. He had to manufacture the parts and had some of his clones work on the programming but it was worth it.

When the computer was done, he assigned a dozen clones creating modules after modules for an artificial intelligence for his lab to function at optimum efficiency. He knew that he was cheating since he was practically copying Shinra's many achievements but he didn't let it deter him. If Kami didn't strike him down for bringing technology back to the Elemental Nations then he was free to do as he pleased.

Naruto also kept up with his training thanks to the training ground located underneath ANBU headquarters. He was brought up to speed in ninjutsu, kenjutsu, chakra control, and seals thanks to the many ANBU who was more than happy to lend a hand in his training. The library also helped and had an army of clones read through everything he could get his hands on. It also helped that he spent quite a lot of time sparring with Konoha's trained elites while his shadow clones worked in his now functional laboratory. His main training partner was Neko and someone named Tenzo who was capable of using the Shodaime's Mokuton. He found out that the man was experimented on by Orochimaru and was the only one to survive the process of being integrated with the Shodaime's DNA. The man was definitely strong and Naruto enjoyed hours of fun with the man in a no-holds-barred sparring match. He was slowly gaining grounds in his goal to reach Sephiroth's strength and ANBU was definitely helping with that goal.

The new inventor of Konoha also took the time to get a breath of fresh air from his dingy laboratory to interact with his friends from the Academy. However, most of his free time was spent with Tenten, engaging in a spar and taking her out for dinner or lunch if time permits. He couldn't tell her anything about his new role in Konoha but she didn't pester him about it since she understood the secrecy involved. He did, however, keep her updated with some of his personal experiments since she provided helpful insights to how things should work or not.

All in all, Naruto loved every second of it.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto pressed a button on his computer console while sipping a cup of coffee. He was currently in the middle of testing his one of his many finished experiments – a long-range communication system powered by ambient chakra. Unlike the communicators ANBUs were using, this model was more advanced. Naruto, using Shinra's many inventions as a template, was able to increase the range and utilized seals to give it a self-recharging power supply. It helped that the Elemental Nations was rich in ambient energy thanks to the many chakra-using individuals running around.

"Testing testing. Do you read me, over?" Naruto started. Static was heard from the speaker system installed in his laboratory before a voice broke in.

"_**Read you loud and clear, Uzumaki-san." **_

"How many times do I have to tell you, Tenzo, call me Naruto or Naruto-san." He growled in irritation.

"_**I'm not sure. I lost count after five hundred."**_ came the amused reply.

"Cheeky bugger." Naruto murmured as he started typing on the keyboard in front of him. "Alright, how is my voice on your end? Any static or interference I should know about?"

"_**No. Everything is loud and clear on my end. How is the tracking seal you installed?"**_

"Wait, I'm pulling up a map right now." said Naruto as he pushed a few more buttons. The screen on his left changed to a map of Hi no Kuni. There were two blinking blue dots, one in the capital of Hi no Kuni while the other one was in Tanzaku Gai. "Alright, the map is working perfectly and the tracking seal works. Your current location is the market district behind the Daimyo's compound. Confirm?"

"_**Confirm. I guess it worked then."**_

"Definitely. Wait, let me see if one of the features I installed is up and running." said Naruto, flicking a switch on the panel to toggle the conference mode one of his clones installed earlier. "Neko-neechan, do you read?"

"_**Read you loud and clear, Naruto-kun. I take it you're testing the conference mode now?"**_

"I am. You and Tenzo are on the line."

"_**Hello, Neko-san."**_ said Tenzo from his end.

"_**Tenzo."**_ Neko replied in greeting. _**"Are you hearing me loud and clear?"**_

"_**Clear as if you're beside me, Neko-san."**_

"Neechan, are you in a building right now in front of the plaza square?" asked Naruto as he triangulated the ANBU's position.

"_**Yes, I'm at the hotel packing my things. I just finished the mission so I'm going back to Konoha in a few hours. This GPS thing working?"**_

"Yes. I think I just need to update the map with the buildings to accurately point out the position of those who have a communicator or a tracking seal with a specific chakra signature." Naruto replied. "The communication panel is also working perfectly on my end so I'm going to flag this project as a success."

"_**You're definitely living up to your name as Konoha's Inventor, Naruto-kun."**_

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush, neechan." said an amused Naruto. "Anyway, I'm signing off. Do you want me to leave the communication line open between the two of you so you can talk?"

"_**No need, Naruto-kun. I'll be running at full speed so I have no time to talk. Anyway, Neko signing out. Take care, Tenzo, Naruto-kun."**_

"Safe travels, Neechan. By for now, Tenzo.

"_**See you when I get back, Uzumaki-san." **_

Naruto didn't grace that with a reply before turning off the communicator. He grabbed a scroll before teleporting out of the room to give his report to the Hokage.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"I am happy to say that the long-range communication system is a success, Hokage-jiji." reported Naruto as he stood in front of the aged leader with his two advisors, Homura and Koharu. The two were opposed to his position at first but when they visited his lab, they were convinced and eagerly waiting for what he could come up with. "I tested the GPS and communication range with ANBUs Neko and Tenzo who are in Tanzaku Gai and Hi no Kuni capital respectively."

"Excellent, Naruto-kun. Any problems with the…um…Global Positioning System? Did I get the term right?" Sarutobi asked with a chuckle. He didn't know where Naruto got these terms but they were quite catchy, hard to memorize though.

"You can just call them GPS, jiji, and no, there's no problem with it as far as I can tell. I just need to update the map to include the rest of the Elemental Nations down to the last building for accuracy, but other than that, everything is working perfectly. I already assigned a hundred shadow clones to mass produce the communicators for ANBU and Jounin use and linked them to a central communication system at ANBU headquarters. You might want to tell me if you are planning to assign ANBU outside Fire Country so I can check the range again. My goal is to ensure that the communication relays can catch any incoming and outgoing transmission all over the Elemental Nations. Anyway, all you need to do is to train an ANBU to handle the communication relays and to check on the system from time to time. When you have a person in mind, let me know. I'll train him for a few days and ease him into the job." The blonde reported before putting a scroll on the table. "Here's a duplicate of the communication panel for your use. I already took the liberty of adding a set of instructions so you'll know how to operate them. I also included a dozen communicators to use as you see fit."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." said Sarutobi with a smile while giving the two advisors a smug look. They were wearing looks of shock and amazement when Naruto described his now completed communication system for Konoha's ANBU and Jounin. It was safe to say they were very much convinced. "I'll add this as an A-rank mission on your record. Your pay will be deposited in your bank account in the morning. Do you have anything else to report?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm itching for a mission outside the village and the hover boards are at 50% completion, I have nothing else to say." Naruto admitted as he slumped down unceremoniously on the chair causing the three to chuckle. "Man, I never knew that staying in my laboratory everyday for two months was going to drive me insane."

"Don't worry. If there is a C-rank mission among your group, I'll be more than happy to let you join them as back-up. Any problems with the hover boards?" he asked the blonde inventor who had a thoughtful frown on his face.

"The chakra absorption seals, converter seals, and hover seals are working perfectly without any glitch. The problem is the steering. I'm still looking for a way to steer it better instead of doing it manually with our feet. That's why it's taking a bit slow but I'm sure I'll have it done in the next month or so." admitted Naruto. "I'm toying with some of tou-san's experiments in mind seals if its possible to use it with the hover boards. I'll let you know what I can come up on that thought."

"What are these…hover boards?" Homura asked curiously.

"Hokage-jiji asked me to create a transportation medium for Konoha to easily send reinforcement to and from the village. The project is taking too long considering its size so I am making a more compact version of it in the form of boards." He pulled out a data pad from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times much to the amazement of the trio. He pulled up a picture of the hover board with one of his clones adding a few seals on the bottom and showed it to them. "This is the hover board. This is an ongoing project of mine that would allow our shinobi to go from one place to another without wasting their energy and cutting down on travel time. If this project is successful, I am thinking of incorporate a small closed vehicle version of it for dignitaries and important personnel."

"This is amazing, Uzumaki. I am looking forward to what you cook up next." said Koharu with a bit of respect.

"Thank you, Koharu-sama. Anyway, if that's it for today, I need to get a few hours of training in before calling it a day. I was working on the communication system for two days straight without any rest. Good bye for now." said Naruto before exiting the room and teleporting back to his room in his now-renovated apartment when the door closed.

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**End of Chapter 1**

**Tell me what you think!**

**Please leave a comment or a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Final Fantasy 7, or any works that this story might be hitting along the way. Give credit to where credit is due. **

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_**Summary: **__Naruto suffered an accident that caused memories of his past life to slowly resurface in his mind. As he grew, he integrates the personality, memories, and abilities of the One-Winged Angel - Sephiroth. Enemies beware! Sephiroth-like Naruto. Inventor-Naruto Strong Naruto. Intelligent-Naruto. Minimal Bashing if possible. Slight AU but mostly similar to canon as the story goes. MASS CROSSOVER WARNING! _

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**Some questions from my readers:**

**1. If you are busy with work, why do you have time to write a very long chapter and a new story at that?"**

_**A: This story was written two years ago, I stopped working on it because of my urge to write my other stories. I just made a few editions and improved the sentence/paragraph flow. **_

**2. There are still some grammar/spelling problems, why didn't you edit them too?**

_**A: I worked on the edits using my Samsung Tab 7.0. Please forgive me for the lapse. It's somewhat hard to write/edit stories via mobile while traveling. ^_^**_

**3. Why post this now?**

_**A: I think it's time that this story made a debut. Let's face it, this story rocks. (modest much?)**_

**4. Do you accept ideas on what Naruto is going to invent next?**

_**A: I would like that. I would like to tell my readers/followers that if you have any ideas, please send me a PM. DON'T share your ideas via review. PM is much preferred. **_

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Naruto grinned while he watched one of his clones testing the recently completed Uzumaki Hover Board. The clone was grinning like a loon, two thumbs up as he gave it a few test runs around the room at Chuunin-level speeds, easily overcoming the Genin-level obstacle course he ordered set up beforehand.

It took two weeks for Naruto to figure out the steering problem but he finally found the solution in a scroll detailing the Yamanaka mind transfer technique. A few seals later, the board could now be controlled by channeling a constant stream of chakra towards a control seal in the middle of the device when the rider steps on it. The sliver of chakra channeled through the seal serves as the rider's will since chakra was a combination of physical and mental/spiritual energy. The only requirement for this method was for the rider's focus since daydreaming was not an option when you were riding something that could pick up active thoughts.

The only problem, which was somewhat irrelevant at this point, was the speed of the board itself. With the current capability of the chakra absorption seal, the board couldn't only go up to Chuunin-level speeds without draining the battery dry. He already had a few clones working on upgrading the seal matrix to increase the percentage of energy absorption from 5% to 10% so the chakra battery could keep up with the increased drain. He hadn't experimented with the possibility of directly applying large amounts of chakra into the battery itself to power the thing since he didn't have the time with other projects taking up his schedule.

He wasn't in a hurry though since the project was stamped as successful with notes on potential upgrades in the future.

"Alright, I think you tested it enough." Naruto spoke through the com-system, his voice blaring out of the speakers in the 'Test Room' as he dubbed it, an unused training room inside ANBU HQ. Neko told him that the room was too cramped for the ANBUs' use so they scrapped it for the underground training chamber built by the Hokage after a petition. Upon learning this interesting tidbit, Naruto immediately commandeered the room, had a few clones set it up as a testing chamber for the testing of his experimental seals. He made a point of placing durability seals on the walls since the last seal test almost blew up the lab into smithereens if not for the clone having the foresight to teleport out to the Forest of Death before the thing could explode.

"Aw come on, boss. Just a few more minutes." the clone whined, clearly enjoying the test run of the hover board.

"Why do I even bother." murmured Naruto as he exited the room towards his laboratory to record the success of his newest creation. He couldn't blame the clone since he was itching to give it a try himself.

"**Naruto-sama, you have a message from the Hokage. Should I send it over to your data pad for viewing?"** bellowed a voice from the speaker system. The voice belonged to an artificial intelligence created through the collaboration of a hundred clones working for a week. It had the personality of a Daimyo's retainer with the processing power and intellect of a Shinra mother computer. He gave the AI the designation Kuroto since he couldn't come up with a unique name for it.

"Please do, Kuroto." said Naruto as he fished out his data pad and pressed on the blinking icon indicating the new message his AI was talking about. He raised an eyebrow after reading the missive from his boss-slash-grandfather. "Huh? Backing up Team 7 in their C turned B-rank mission…interesting. Kuroto, could you inform my clones in the laboratory to proceed with the experiment. They can use the spare chakra batteries in the vault inside my office if more clones are needed, all are fully charged and ready for use. Also, ask a clone to encode the most recent bingo book into your data banks since I might need inquiry soon if this mission parameter is anything to go by."

"**I will inform them, Naruto-sama. I'll make sure that the information is readily available when you're ready. Good luck on your mission."**

"Thanks, Kuroto. Watch my clones while I'm gone. They can be pretty stubborn sometimes." Naruto said cheerfully then growled in irritation when he heard his AI's response to that statement.

"**They are **_**you**_** after all, Naruto-sama."**

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Team 7 needs backup?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow upon appearing in front of the Hokage who wasn't even startled by his entrance. In fact, the Sandaime was already desensitize of his constant appearing and disappearing to and from his office that he could now detect Naruto's chakra signature in an instant before materializing, a testament to his moniker as the God of Shinobi during his prime.

Sandaime nodded. "Yes. I just got a message from Kakashi informing me that they continued the mission despite the increase in difficulty. Considering that they just encountered the Demon Brothers, I bumped it up to an B-rank. Any more rogue shinobi showing up would practically place this mission as an A if we're lucky." He informed the blonde who nodded in understanding.

"Bummer. I think Inu hit his head a few times to continue a mission despite the dangers involved. He's no longer in ANBU and he is babysitting three kids so he'll definitely need an extra hand." said Naruto while shaking his head. He knew that Kakashi was Inu, one of his ANBU guardians when he was an untrained whelp. It wasn't hard to figure out considering Kakashi had a unique hairstyle that was easily recognizable if you knew the man long enough. "Fine, I'll take the mission. Did you give Kakashi a communicator?"

"No I didn't since I already used up the dozen you gave me. Why don't you bring a few extras when you meet up with him? We'll have a conference when you set up camp. I definitely want to know why he decides to continue the mission with only his Genins backing him up."

"If you ask my opinion, I think Kakashi is just too lazy to decide and I bet that he let his Genin dictate the continuation of the mission." Naruto sniffed but was amused all the same.

"That is the reason why I sent for _you_ to back him up. That and the other teams are busy with their missions and I don't want to risk a rookie team to take up the slack." the Hokage admitted. Naruto agreed the man's reasoning but couldn't help point something out.

"You do know that I'm technically a Genin, right?" Naruto asked with a smirk. In truth, he was a Genin on paper but due to his rank as Head of ANBU's Research and Development, he was directly under the Hokage in terms of rank.

"A Genin that can beat a seasoned ANBU in an all out shinobi match?" the Sandaime deadpanned making Naruto chuckle.

"Touche. Anyway, I'm off, old man. I need to rendezvous with Kakashi as soon as possible. Who knows, I might have to bail out his ass if he's neck deep in trouble. Knowing his luck, I daresay he's going to need it." Naruto said dryly before exiting the office towards his personal armory to stock up on supplies.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Kuroto, did my clone finish encoding the bingo book?" Naruto spoke to his ear piece while maintaining the feed to his communication system back in his lab. He made sure to add a specific seal matrix to his personal com-piece that would directly interface with his AI's server just in case he needed information or to relay orders to his clones working on various experiments.

"_**Yes, Naruto-sama."**_

"Good. Please give me any information you have on the Demon Brothers and mention any accomplice they might have."

"_**Demon Brothers of the Mist. Name: Gouzu and Meizu. Both are C-rank rogue shinobi hailing from Kirigakure no Sato. Both are known for their perfectly coordinated attacks. Last known sightings was in Tea Country working alongside Momochi Zabuza, an A-rank rogue ANBU hailing from Kirigakure no Sato. Momochi Zabuza is one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, wielding a zanbatou known as Kubikiribouchou (Decapitating Carving Knife). He specializes in Silent Killing and known to be a master of the Hiding in Mist Technique that blankets the area with chakra-laced mist that hinders any detection via visual, doujutsu, or chakra sense."**_

"Ah. Kakashi is definitely up to his ears on this one. With the mist in play, his Sharingan is useless. Not to mention that he grew weak after slacking off in his training when he quit ANBU." Naruto mused, thinking of a way to get there faster. He still hasn't mastered unassisted flight yet since he couldn't maintain enough magical saturation on his body to achieve flight. Float? Yes. Flight? No. A thought occurred to him before channeling large amounts of chakra to his board causing it to lurch forward before speeding up. He grinned. "Kuroto, please relay to my clones that the speed of the Hover Board is increased through the injection of chakra directly on the chakra conversion seal. Have them assign a few clones to test this out and try to see how fast the board could go. I am currently going at Jounin-level speeds and will monitor its activity. Please tell them to test it out in a controlled environment.

"_**Will do, Naruto-sama."**_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

With the newly discovered speed of his board, it didn't take long for Naruto to reach the coast of Wave Country. He sensed a chakra spike the moment he entered the island. He veered off from his current course and made a beeline towards the disturbance and ended up in a clearing covered with thick mist. He immediately picked up the traces of chakra.

"Not your ordinary mist. This has Zabuza written all over it." murmured Naruto as he landed and sealed the Hover Board into his pocket dimension. "Ugh, I hate being blind. **Dispel!**" a wave of magical energy erupted from him, easily dispelling the chakra-laced mist that covered the area. It revealed quite an interesting sight.

Naruto saw Kakashi trapped in a water bubble with Zabuza holding it stable and active. Six Zabuza, which Naruto knew were clones, surrounded the rest of Team 7 composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and a Genin he briefly encountered by the name of Sai. Sasuke was valiantly fighting the clones who looked like they were toying with him, Sakura trembling like a shaken tree in front of an equally shivering client, and Sai was on the ground unconscious and bleeding.

Considering how dire the situation was, Naruto decided to forgo calling everyone's attention, but instead, blurred out of sight to appear in front of a Zabuza clone with his hand gripping its head. He broke the Zabuza clone's neck with a simple twist of his wrist causing it to dispel back into its base substance. He kicked one that was about to give him a haircut by zanbatou before elbowing the one on his left. The strength of his attacks was enough to dispel the two. Three down, three more to go.

"You might want to sit this one out, Sasuke." Naruto said with a smile as he stood calmly surrounded by the remaining clones. Sasuke was currently trying to pick himself off the ground, bleeding from a split lip and bruises on his face. He was sporting a very nice shiner.

"What are you doing here, dobe?" the last loyal Uchiha all but growled at the interruption. He didn't expect the dobe to appear all of a sudden and dispatch three of his attackers with ease. The ease Naruto destroyed the clones infuriated him.

"The Hokage sent me as backup, great timing too considering how you were getting trashed by mere clones." Naruto said, eyeing the Zabuzas who was doing the same but wearily before turning his attention to the original out in the lake. "Momochi Zabuza, aka Demon of the Bloody Mist, and A-rank rogue shinobi. Glad to make your acquaintance." He said with a grandiose bow, totally ignoring the fuming Uchiha.

"It would seem that Kakashi here brought reinforcements. I applaud how you dispatched my clones. Anyway, you shouldn't have come out but it's too late. I'll kill you first before everyone else." said Zabuza with a smirk visible through his bandaged face as he made a single hand seal causing six more clones to materialized around the blonde. "Farewell, blondie."

Naruto wasn't surprised when he saw Zabuza call up more clones, effectively surrounding him from all sides. The chakra needed to create and maintain solid clones at a distance was noteworthy, definitely the work of an ANBU of Zabuza's caliber. He decided to raise it up a notch to give the man a fair fight. He raised his right hand to the side and materialized Masamune. With a smirk, he swung his blade twice as if testing its weight. Zabuza was about to say something about the materialized sword but stopped when all of his clones were sliced to bits before turning back into water.

"Interesting. Water clones aren't that durable or powerful. I daresay that those clones only had a percentage of your strength and nothing else." Naruto observed the puddles of water that were once clones. He looked up to smile at a startled Zabuza. "I think its fine time we end this, don't you think?" he asked before blurring out of sight before appearing in front of rogue shinobi with Masamune already on a downward strike.

Zabuza was quite surprised when the blonde suddenly appeared in front of him about to slice him from head to groin. He hastily removed Kubikibouchou from his back and blocked the strike. He almost lost his grip on his sword due to the power behind the blow. He channeled a chakra to his arm to strengthen it before pushing the kid off with a swing and a grunt.

Naruto was pushed back but calmly landed on top of the water with only a ripple. "Definitely an A-rank. I'm quite happy that you're strength wasn't exaggerated, Momochi Zabuza." he complimented the masked shinobi with a grin on his face.

"You have moves, kid, I'll give you that. What's your name?" Zabuza asked, showing off his own grin but this one was a bit forced in Naruto's opinion. He didn't know who this kid was but he was definitely not an ordinary shinobi.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto." he replied before lunging forward to attack the Demon of the Mist with a flurry of slashes and thrusts that forced Zabuza to hastily block or parry while keeping his technique active. "You are definitely a skilled swordsman." Naruto mused before calmly shifting his grip into a double-handed one and followed it up with an upward slash that caught Zabuza by surprise. Since he channeled a bit of chakra into the swing, it was strong enough to lift Zabuza off the surface of the water and into the air. The sudden rise in altitude resulted in canceling the technique that trapped the one-eyed Jounin in place and depositing the man into the water.

"Naruto?" asked the Jounin as he floated. He didn't bother to water walk since Zabuza's technique drained a sizable amount of his chakra. His currently active Sharingan wasn't helping.

"Who do you think, Inu-niisan?"

"Could you please not call me that, otouto. I'm no longer in ANBU you know."

"Fine, Kakashi it is then. The Hokage sent me here to back you up. From the looks of things, you definitely need it."

"That's a relief. I was expecting a team but you're a welcome sight nonetheless."

"I feel the love. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a rogue shinobi to finish." said Naruto to end the conversation before shooting forward to engage Zabuza in an intense swordfight.

Zabuza was scared. He didn't know who the brat was but he was definitely something. This Uzumaki Naruto was definitely strong. The six-foot nodachi was definitely not for show and the boy's kenjutsu style was so unpredictable that he was practically using his battle-honed skill and instincts just to parry the blows. The boy also displayed amazing strength and used it to overpower his many swings despite his smaller frame. He couldn't attack since the boy placed him on the defensive with non-stop slash and thrust. Heck, he couldn't even find any opportunity to counter due to the boy's speed and precision. Growling in irritation, he intercepted the boy's attack with a horizontal swing while putting all of his power into the move but was surprised when he didn't feel any pressure on his sword or the sound of steel on steel. He heard a chuckle to his left and turned to see the blonde swordsman easily standing on the tip of his blade, the nodachi-class blade held lazily by his side.

"I haven't had this much fun in weeks. Sure, I had fun with Ten-chan during our weekly spars but she definitely doesn't have your strength and skill, Momochi Zabuza." said Naruto with a chuckle before smoothly sliding down the blade and kicking Zabuza hard on the head, throwing him to the side. However, the man flipped to regain his balance as he went through a series of handseals, switching to a jutsu battle since the boy was quite skilled with the blade.

"**Suiton: Water Trumpet."** Zabuza bellowed before opening his mouth to release a highly-pressurize stream of water at Naruto who merely raised an eyebrow at the puny counter.

"**Wall."**He said calmly as a prismatic hexagon shield appeared in front of him that effectively blocked the attack then cancelled itself when the attack ended. He raised his hand towards Zabuza. **"Thunder!"**

A bolt of lightning flew out of his outstretched hands forcing him to dodge instead of defending since it wasn't a good idea to use water to block lightning techniques especially when he was standing in the middle of a lake. Naruto calmly raised his nodachi to block a zanbatou strike from above courtesy of a very irate rogue shinobi. The attack was strong since it pushed him down on the water a bit but Naruto corrected that easily as he channeled more chakra to his feet.

"I think we should end this now since I have comrades to treat." Naruto said with a smile before flipping back resulting in the tip of his boots to hit the man on the chin and throwing him into the air. Naruto crouched on top of the water before jumping up, preparing himself for a technique he saw Cloud use on his past counterpart and practiced it to perfection with this many clones. He had to hand it to Cloud Strife, this attack was definitely on a whole new level.

"**Omnislash!"** in a blur of speed, Naruto showered Zabuza with slashes after slashes that caused the man to scream in pain as various wounds of all shapes and sizes appeared all over his body. The attack ended with Zabuza still alive and conscious but definitely in pain, dripping blood to the clear water below. Amazed at the man's resilience, Naruto kicked the Zabuza back to dry land, bouncing a bit before grounding to an immediately halt when his back collided with a rather large tree. He definitely broke a few bones on that one if the cracking sound he heard was anything to go by. Naruto landed softly a few meters away from Zabuza with intent to finish him off when a masked individual appeared and grabbed the rogue shinobi before disappearing in a flurry of ice.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"**Curaga."** Naruto whispered the most powerful healing spell he knew, targeting the three injured shinobi in front of him. Sakura gasped as the wounds on Sasuke and Sai disappeared while Kakashi's sat straight when he felt his energy return to him in a rush. "That takes care of that. Shall we proceed with the mission in? I daresay we're done here so we need to get Tazuna to safety."

"Thanks, Naruto." said Kakashi while covering his Sharingan with his forehead protector to stop the chakra drain. Whatever technique Naruto used, it replenished his chakra reserves to full capacity much to his amazement but he didn't want to waste the sudden burst of energy with his exposed Sharingan without reason. The battle with Zabuza was definitely a wake-up call. He made a mental note to train with Naruto while giving his team a few exercise to kill time. "What was that technique you used? That was no ordinary healing technique. You didn't even use hand seals to activate it."

"A healing _spell_ courtesy of my bloodline." Naruto lied, sticking to the story he gave the Sandaime.

"You don't have a bloodline." Kakashi pointed out.

"Not that you know of anyway." said an amused blonde before turning to an awed bridge builder. "How far is it to your home, Tazuna-san?"

"Um, an hour walk from here, shinobi-san."

Naruto nodded. "Please, call me Naruto. Shall we go then? I might have defeated Zabuza but we can never tell if Gato deployed his thugs in the area as backup to bring you down." It was a bluff of course since he already checked the surrounding foliage with an overpowered Scan. The spell didn't report anything besides plants and animals so it was relatively safe.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Zabuza's still alive?" Kakashi asked after a few minutes of walking towards Tazuna's house. He and Naruto were behind Tazuna with Sai and Sakura flanking the man and Sasuke taking the front.

Naruto nodded, his eyes not leaving the road and the client. "The man definitely lives up to his reputation as the Demon of the Bloody Mist. He survived fifty slashes from my attack and lived to tell the tale. He is very much injured that would take a month to heal, two weeks tops with a skilled medic to patch him up. To answer your question, yes, Zabuza is still alive since his accomplice bailed him out in the nick of time."

"Are you sure it was an accomplice? Kakashi asked. "Whoever that was, he or she was wearing a Kiri Hunter mask so it is quite possible that Zabuza is dead."

Naruto nodded but sighed. "I know. I saw the person clearly despite moving fast and whisking Zabuza away without stopping long enough for me to get enough identification. No, I don't think the person is a Hunter shinobi. If he or she was then that person would have simply killed Zabuza on the spot and burned the body after decapitating the man. Ergo, Zabuza is still alive and he has a skilled accomplice to patch him up." Naruto told the Jounin in a no nonsense tone. "Once healed, Zabuza will return for payback and possibly with reinforcement this time. Not that it matters."

"If you say so." Kakashi said with a shrug. Both were silent again as they walked but Naruto brought something up that made him wince.

"You know, niisan, I've known you as an ANBU and I can safely say that you're not as strong as you once were." he whispered to his surrogate brother-slash-superior.

Kakashi sighed. "I know. I am going to train when I have time." He promised before giving Naruto a sidelong glance, smiling at his surrogate brother. "Hokage-sama told me of your exploits and inventions but he definitely didn't tell me about your skills. You wield the blade like a master. Your Academy file definitely didn't say anything about the strength you displayed earlier. Not to mention those powerful techniques you used without hand seals."

Naruto turned his head towards the Jounin and grinned. "Deception is a shinobi creed, niisan. I decided to hide my skills while in the Academy but continued to train every day keeping my skills sharp. Neko-neechan and Tenzo helped me with my training and some of the ANBU lent a hand if their time permits. Let me tell you, the elites definitely know their stuff. They have been keeping my skills sharp ever since I set up shop at headquarters."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "I know. I had a chat with them a couple of times last month and they kept me updated with your training regimen. I might no longer be part of ANBU but they keep me posted of what's happening in the ranks out of respect being their former captain. I hope you don't mind if we train for a bit after I teach the kiddies."

"I don't mind. It gives me something better to do." Naruto said with a shrug. "What are you going to teach them anyway? You might want to teach them something a bit more advance since Zabuza is going to come back with a vengeance."

"I think they are ready for the Tree Climbing exercise." Kakashi informed Naruto who was surprised, but not in a good way.

"You didn't teach them the Tree Climbing exercise? What in the hell is wrong with you, niisan? I know you're lazy but I didn't know that you're _this_ lazy!"

"Mah, I think it's early to teach them that yet." Kakashi replied defensively.

"Tree Climbing is a basic chakra control exercise taught to Genins by their respective sensei to prepare them for high-tier ninjutsu, genjutsu, and as a basic survival skill out in the field. It is a mandate that Jounin senseis teach their Genins this skill before undergoing any C-rank mission. Why in the world did you let them take a high rank mission without this important skill backing them up?" he all but demanded causing Kakashi to slump in depression.

"Try teaching that to dysfunctional team and let's see how you fare." Kakashi grouched, giving the Genins in front of him an evil eye. "I passed them because they showed an ounce of teamwork during the Genin Test but that teamwork didn't improve or manifest as I trained them every day. I decided that I would up their teamwork a bit before teaching them tree climbing. In fact, I was forced to get this C-rank mission since Sasuke was practically making me deaf demanding for a stronger mission every day. What's worse, Sakura backed him up and her screeching almost popped my eardrums."

"You definitely need to set your priorities straight, Kakashi-niisan." Naruto shook his head after hearing the man's explanation. "You're their sensei so you call the shots. If you think that your team is too hard to train then drop them. The Hokage knows that it's better to have your Genin take a remedial than ending up dead in a ditch somewhere, more so with an Uchiha on your team being the pampered prince he is."

Kakashi huffed. "I planned to do that last month but decided against it to spare the Hokage a migraine."

"The civilian council?" Naruto asked with some curiosity.

"Who else?"

"You know that they don't have a say in shinobi matters, right?" the blonde pointed out.

"I do but I don't want to trouble Hokage-sama any more than he already is."

"Fine. I'll have a talk with jiji about it." Naruto shrugged. "Who knows, he might grow a spine or two to finally throw the old idiots out. That would definitely make his life easier if nothing else."

"Go ahead. Oh, you might want to stay away from Sasuke for a few days." Kakashi warned him.

"Why is that?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"With the skills you showed and how you defeated Zabuza, expect him to pester you to teach him. He'll be worse considering that you both graduated at the same time and he's the Rookie of the Year."

"Ego much." Naruto said with a shake of his head before giving Kakashi a smile. "Don't worry, niisan. I'll be moving around and won't be seeing Sasuke as much as you implied. I suggest that you train all of your Genins while I take care of guarding Tazuna."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. This way, the client is protected while your team gets the training they need. Two birds with one stone."

"If you insist."

"I do and no more needs to be said on the matter."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

They reached Tazuna's house without problems, not that Naruto or Kakashi expected anything since they instinctively knew that Gato specifically sent the rogue shinobi to finish off the client and expecting it to succeed. Tazuna invited them into his house and introduced them to his daughter, Tsunami. After exchanging greetings, Naruto asked a room where they could hold a meeting. Tsunami ushered the Konoha group to a spacious bedroom on the second floor that she prepared for them in advance.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." Exclaimed Naruto cheerfully as he brought out a spare communication system from his pocket dimension. He placed it on the bed before removing his earpiece and installing it on the slot. He channeled a lot of his chakra into the storage matrix to charge it up while listening to the hushed conversation of Team 7 in one corner of the room.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did Naruto become so strong?" asked Sakura in a whisper. "He's a Genin like us so how come he is not on a team?"

"It is not my place to tell. I can safely say that Naruto is possibly stronger than me if he was serious enough to use all of his skills." Kakashi informed his surprised team of the truth. He knew that Naruto was quite strong thanks to the updates he got from Neko, Tenzo, and the Hokage. It was only normal for him to ask since he treated the blonde like a brother with Naruto returning the affection. If Naruto could spar with Neko and Tenzo in a stalemate and sometimes win with his unique abilities then the boy was definitely stronger than him considering how weakened he was due to his lack of training.

"I find that hard to believe, Kakashi-sensei." said Sai in his usual monotone but the fake smile was absent from his face telling everyone that he was serious.

"Don't believe me if you don't want to." Kakashi said with a shrug.

"Hn, he will always be a dobe." Sasuke grunted though he was inwardly furious at how powerful the blonde was. He couldn't even beat a clone and Naruto beating the original into a bloodied mess. It was unacceptable for his ego to admit defeat especially from someone he considered an inferior throughout the Academy.

Naruto decided that he channeled enough chakra to sustain the long-distance connection so he called to the whispering team, amused at the attention he was getting from his fight with Zabuza. He definitely made an impression, not that he cared of course. "I think that's enough chakra. Gather around everyone."

"What's that?" Sakura asked, eyeing the complicated box-like instrument on the bed.

Naruto patted his invention proudly. "This, Sakura, is one of my inventions. A long-range communication system I invented at the Hokage's request. It is an advanced form of communication device powered by chakra that has a much longer range than the ANBU ear piece they once used before this baby came out." He explained before pressing the switch to connect to the communication line in Konoha. "Hokage-jiji, do you read?"

The speaker released a bit of static before the Hokage's voice came through much to the amazement of Team 7.

"_**Loud and clear, Naruto-kun. What's the status of the mission?"**_

"The mission is now officially bumped to A-rank, jiji."

"_**Explain."**_

"Right. I was able to rendezvous with Team 7 when I entered Wave Country via Hover Board. I dispelled the mist surrounding the clearing and immediately engaged Momochi Zabuza and defeated him before healing Kakashi's team and escorting the client back to his house. We are currently in a room on the second floor of Tazuna's pad if you're curious."

"_**I…see. And Zabuza?"**_

"Alive and kicking. He was able to survive my Omnislash and you know how…bloody that technique is." Naruto pointed out since the Hokage was usually an audience when he sparred with Neko or Tenzo to check on his progress. The last time he used that technique was with the latter who luckily used a replacement with a wood clone that got sliced to pieces in a matter of seconds. He definitely put the fear of blades into the man if nothing else.

"_**I expect nothing less from an A-rank rogue shinobi of his caliber. Is Kakashi there with you?"**_

"I'm here, Hokage-sama." Kakashi quipped, trying in vain to get the amazement out of his voice. Sure, he knew of Naruto's invention but seeing one in action was definitely an experience.

"_**Glad you're safe, Kakashi, and I'm thankful that Naruto was able to reach you in time. However, I would like to point out your lapse in judgment regarding the continuation of the mission despite the increase in difficulty. We will talk about that when you get back. Here are your orders, continue with the mission to protect Tazuna until he finishes the bridge. Understood?"**_

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"_**Good. Naruto will have his own mission to take care of but will provide back-up if necessary. I think that is enough for today. Could you please get out of conference mode, Naruto-kun. We need to talk in private."**_

"Alright, jiji." Naruto agreed. He turned off the machine and removed the ear piece before replacing it back on his ear. He channeled a bit of chakra to sustain the feed. "Conference is down, jiji. What do you need?"

"_**Good. I learned from the grapevine that Gato currently has Wave Country in a chokehold. Leave the protection of Tazuna to Kakashi and his team. Your mission is to find Gato and take him out, freeing Wave from his tyranny. Seal up anything of value while returning the money to the people of Wave. Anything shinobi related should be brought back with you. We might be able to use this to our advantage if nothing else or as compensation if you will with the bump in mission rank."**_

"Smooth move there. Mission accepted, Hokage-sama." Naruto said in all seriousness. "I would like to hold the start of my mission for a few days. Kakashi will be training his team and bring them up to scratch so I'll guard Tazuna in their stead. I'll proceed with the mission after that."

"_**That's acceptable. Please be careful, Naruto-kun. I know you're strong but it's always best to be careful."**_

"Don't worry about me, jiji. I can take care of myself."

"_**It's only normal for me to worry about my grandson."**_

"Stop worrying. Why don't you contact Kuroto through the communication system on the base and have one of my clones set up a computer in your office. I already have all the Konoha Archive and reports from the Missions Office encoded there. That should give you something to do instead of being worried all the time. You might also want to have Kuroto teach you how to work the GPS while you're at it. That should help you keep track of your ANBUs during missions."

"_**Fine! I'll do that. Over and out."**_

Naruto smirked when he heard the connection end and stopped channeling chakra to the ear piece. He turned to Kakashi who looked at him expectantly. "I have a side-mission but that can be postponed. Let's stick with the plan. I'll guard Tazuna while you train your team. Is three days enough?"

"That's fine." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Thanks for picking up the slack, Naruto."

"No problem. Anyway, I'll leave for now and scout the island. I need to know what we're up against. Ciao." said Naruto as he made his way to the window after grabbing the instrument from the bed. He sent it to his pocket dimension with a thought before jumping out, not noticing the glare he was getting from the loyal Uchiha of the Leaf.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was currently high up in the air on his Hover Board looking over the entirety of Wave Country. He was thankful for being given the chance to do what he wanted to do ever since he learned of his mother's name - to find and explore the ruins of Uzumaki Kushina's first home, Uzushiogakure no Sato.

After learning of his mother's legacy, he practically ransacked every history book he could find. His goal was to find the exact location of Uzushio, the Uzumaki Clan's homeland. He found the information in one of the old books deep within the Hokage Archive describing the Third Shinobi World War, specifically the fall of Uzu due to the combined efforts of Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa. According to the author, Uzu was a group of islands off the coast of Fire Country. The main island where the Uzumaki Clan flourished was surrounded by whirlpools that kept invaders away. It was said that the shinobi of Uzu knew of a technique that countered these natural defense so they could safely enter or leave the island before starting it back up again. Naruto used the description to triangulate the location– an uncharted island a few miles east of Wave Country.

Despite this formidable defense, they were attacked thanks to Kiri's Nidaime Mizukage who found a way to bypass said defense. How he did that, no now knew and its knowledge was lost in the sands of time.

It took quite a while but the search in his current altitude made things easier. An hour he spent flying afforded him the chance to finally set his sights on the ruins of Uzushio, his mother's home country. Lowering the amount of chakra he was channeling on the board, he slowly decreased his altitude until he landed at the center of the village. He looked around excitedly, yet with a sad gaze, noting that every wall of the ruined buildings sported crisscrossing designs that marked the clan's love and mastery of the Sealing Arts. Even the layout of the village looked like a gigantic seal, a giant whirlpool in the middle of the island.

"Kuroto, can you check my signal and memorize my current location?"

"_**Already done, Naruto-sama. What name should I label the location?"**_

"Hm, name it Uzu and keep it in a separate server along with some of my personal data. I don't want the wrong sort reading the information I plan to put in it."

"_**Done. I will encrypt it in the usual way for added protection."**_

"Thanks." said Naruto before creating two hundred clones. "Alright guys. You know what to do."

"Hai, taichou." The clones chorused in excitement before blurring away to check every nook and cranny of his mother's former home to salvage anything he could find to add to his growing legacy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was two hours later, an hour before nightfall that one of his clones stumbled upon the ruins of what was once the home of the Uzukage, the leader of Uzushio. Many of his clones were able to find scrolls on different subjects, ranging from the mundane to shinobi arts and sealing from underneath the rubble of the many ruined homes and buildings. However, the star of the show was found later by a clone who deciphered a language written in an old fuuinjutsu script that simply translated to 'The Whirpool's Heart' or more accurately 'The Heart of Whirlpool'. It was safe to say that the clone found the ruins of the Uzukage Tower much to his delight. Naruto immediately dispatched a hundred clones to help him sort through the rubble for anything. He got a lot of practice using the Float spell since some of the rubble was too large and heavy for him to move.

An hour later, Naruto and his clone army finally uncovered a seal on the floor that would have been in the basement of the once complete edifice – a large seal matrix with a hand print at the center.

Using his knowledge of seals, Naruto was able to determine that the lock was a form of Blood Recognition Seal but this was attuned to Uzumakis. Grinning, he bit his thumb to draw blood and bled on all of his fingers before placing his bloodied palm on the array. The effect was immediate. The moment his hand touched the seal, it recognized his blood as an Uzumaki causing the ground to shudder to reveal a secret room just a few feet away from where he was kneeling. A large slab of cement moved out of the way to reveal stairs.

Grinning like a loon, Naruto magically created a ball of fire to light the way as he descended into the catacombs below.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto returned to Tazuna's home the next day with a large smile on his face. He finished exploring the catacombs and found a huge library that contained hundreds, if not thousands of scroll on various shinobi subjects, most of them on the Sealing Arts, as well as various books on the Elemental Nation's complete history. It was the discovery of the century and Naruto was going to milk it for all its worth.

Also, there was a letter on the lone desk in the middle of the library written by the Uzukage before the village was destroyed. It explained what the library held and passed the legacy of the clan to him. Naruto vowed that he would make his ancestors proud and continue their legacy as powerful Seal Masters in the Elemental Nations.

Considering that he didn't have time to peruse all them without anyone getting suspicious, he decided to store everything into his pocket dimension to be sorted later. He informed Kuroto to delegate a few full-powered clones to make a large basement to hide his legacy in. He expected it to be finished upon his return into two weeks. He entered the house to find the Tazuna, Tsunami, Kakashi, and Team 7 eating breakfast. He just realized that he was hungry. His stomach grumbled upon smelling the delicious aroma of food on the table.

"Good morning, everyone." he greeted the group.

"Good morning, Naruto. Glad to see that you decided to join us." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Where have you been?"

"Scouting the island to make sure I know the geography enough for my mission to be successful." He lied. He had no intentions of telling Kakashi that he went on a private field trip to Uzu, surrogate brother or no. Nope, he was keeping this to himself. "I hope you have an extra plate for me. I'm starving."

"Of course." said Tsunami who hurriedly went to the kitchen to retrieve an extra plate for him. She set it on the table before beckoning a hungry Naruto to sit who did so immediately and scooping some rice onto his plate. "Thank you, Tsunami-san."

"Eat your fill, Naruto-san. I don't want you to go hungry now considering you're protecting my father." Tsunami said with a kind smile on her face. Naruto couldn't help but return it with one of his own.

"Much appreciated." Naruto said gratefully as he started eating. He ate in silence for a few minutes before looking at Tazuna. "What your plan for today, Tazuna-san?"

The bridge builder thought for a bit before answering. "I'm going to rest for today since my nerves are still shot from yesterday." He admitted with a shudder. "I'm going to start working on the bridge tomorrow."

"Good. I'll be your bodyguard for tomorrow and the next day." said Naruto before turning to Kakashi. "You're going to train your kids after breakfast?"

"Yes. I saw a sizable clearing behind the house with some thick trees for the exercise. You are welcome to join us if you wish."

"I will. I want to see your Genins in action if nothing else." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Aren't you going to train with us, Naruto?" asked Sakura a bit timidly. She wasn't that close with the blonde despite being classmates back in the Academy. Granted that she only had eyes for Sasuke and she never really got to know him since he tend to just sit there and listen to the lessons. She did notice that Naruto was close to Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba.

"Nah. I already mastered the exercise Kakashi is going to teach you today. I think I'll just join you guys and help if needed." He answered her before turning to the one-eyed Jounin. "Will you be teaching them anything else if they master it?"

"If they master the exercise then I will teach them the next step." Kakashi answered as he read his favorite orange book. "There's a river a few meters away so I might do that."

"That's good, I think." Naruto said with a nod and was about to take another bite when Sasuke decided to make his presence known.

"Teach me, dobe."

Naruto sighed before setting down the chopsticks beside his plate. "What do you want, Sasuke?" he caught Kakashi giving him a look which said 'I told you so'.

"Teach me everything you know."

Naruto stared at the boy for a few minutes before answering. "No thank you. You have a sensei to train you to the best of his abilities. I am not and will ever be required to teach you what I know."

"I demand that you teach me!"

"And I will keep telling you that I won't. You have no right to demand anything from me, Uchiha, so I suggest that you shut your mouth before I do it for you." Naruto said coldly.

"Hey, don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that. You should be honored to teach him everything you know." Sakura screeched causing Naruto and Kakashi to wince.

"Would you mind lowering your voice? You're making my ears ring." Naruto scolded the pink-haired Genin who blushed at the rebuke. "And to answer your question, I will repeat what I told your paramour earlier. I am not obligated to teach him anything and you have no right to berate me for answering him the way I did."

"You're a Genin the same way we are so don't lord yourself over us." Sakura pointed out with a smirk. Thankfully, she was speaking normally this time.

Naruto shook his head. "Poor pitiful fools. Kakashi, would you please enlighten them as to my exact position in the shinobi ranks?"

Kakashi nodded before addressing his students. "Naruto is correct. Despite being a Genin like you guys, Naruto is practically above all three of you in term of rank. He was given a position by the Hokage and has proven himself worthy of said position. In the past four months, Naruto earned the respect of the entire ANBU Corps due to his strength and intellect. He was even given the moniker Konoha's Inventor for his many discoveries and inventions to improve the village, most specifically, the military. You already saw one of his inventions that allowed us to communicate with the Hokage despite the distance. Only the Hokage outranks him and can command him to do anything. So he is right. You have no right to demand anything from him."

All three gaped at him in disbelief.

"How…How can he be that strong? He is the same age as us?" Sakura stuttered out while Sasuke merely glared. "He's not even the Rookie of the Year. If anyone deserves that position it's Sasuke."

Naruto scoffed. "I'm 14, Sakura, two years older than you. I delayed my attendance in the Academy for two years due to self training. Since I don't have any parents or a clan to back me up, I have to learn basic education on my own. I started training myself at the age of six and continued to train myself even during the Academy. Even now, I still train my butts off when I have the time. I achieved my current strength through sheer hard work, blood, and tears. I didn't ask for anyone's help. I researched, studied, and trained on my own. That is the reason why Sasuke cannot demand anything from. My skills are mine and mine alone. If I can achieve this strength then your Uchiha Prince can train to achieve his." He said coldly before standing up. "Thank you for the meal, Tsunami-san. I'm no longer hungry so please forgive me for leaving."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-san." said Tsunami while giving Sakura a glare.

"Thank you." said Naruto before turning to Kakashi and threw something at him which the man easily caught. "That's one of my spare communicators. It works the same way as the old one but I already configured the seal matrix so it is always connected to mine." He explained, tapping the one attached to his ear. "If you need anything for today, you know how to contact me."

With that said Naruto left the house and out into the woods, intending to do something productive instead of getting angry over Kakashi's team.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto spent the whole day reading in a clearing quite a distance from Tazuna's house. He wasn't worried since Kakashi could easily call him via communicator if a problem comes up. He knew that the one-eyed Jounin wouldn't be bothering him since he would be tormenting his Genins with training. Well, since Sasuke wanted training then he should have his fill right now.

He was currently reading the history of the Uzumaki Clan, the real history of his legacy not the ones written by someone outside the family. Naruto was awed over his family history, a rich family history that started since the beginning of the Elemental Nations. Not only was the Uzumaki Clan powerful Seal Masters and Kenjutsu Experts, the line was directly descended from the mythical Rikudo Sennin himself. He was lucky that the Uzumaki History detailed the history of the Elemental Nations during the time of the famed Sage of the Six Path, the appearance of the Juubi, and finally, the creation of the bijuu, and finally, the formation of the shinobi world through the introduction of chakra.

Naruto enjoyed his clan's history as much as he did with his experiments and inventions. He metaphorically gobbled up the information like a starving man to food. It also answered a lot of unasked questions during his training a few years back.

For starters, his healing factor was merely an offshoot of the Uzumaki's potent chakra, which in itself was a side-effect of their potent life force. His inhuman chakra levels were pretty much a normal thing if he grew up within the clan. In fact, that was the reason why Konoha had the _Kage Bunshin_ in its possession since it was gifted to them by the Shodaime's wife, Uzumaki Mito, as a form of dowry. If Konoha had the _Bunshin no Jutsu_, the Uzumaki's had the _Kage Bunshin_ since their massive chakra reserves made it impossible for them to pull off a decent illusion. Genjutsu was never his clan's forte because of the same reason. In most cases, the Uzumaki Clan specialized in fuuinjutsu (Seals), ninjutsu, and kenjutsu. Taijutsu was a given.

The reason why the Uzumaki had this bloodline was because of the Rikkudo Sennin. After his defeat of the mythical Juubi, he sired three sons that eventually became the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki. The eldest (Uchiha) was gifted with the Sage's eyes, because of the Juubi, mutated into the Sharingan. The second child was gifted by the Sage's calming presence, hence Senju Hashirama's ability to subdue any bijuu using his Mokuton. The youngest was gifted the Sage's body and potent life force, thus the Uzumaki.

The Sage also created the bijuus. The reason for their creation was the Sage's fear that if he died, the Juubi would be set free to destroy the world once more. He didn't want that to happen so he used one of many powers of the Rinnegan to create nine living bodies in the form of animals. He separated the Juubi's chakra within himself into these nine animals who later became the nine bijuus of the Elemental Nations.

When the Sage died, his three sons had an argument. The eldest wanted to rule the world through fear and power. The middle child opposed him since he wanted to unite the world under the banners of love and peace. The youngest child sided with the middle brother causing a rift. Each went their separate ways to build up their own clan until such time that three major families were born – the Uchiha, the Senju, and the Uzumaki – that formed the backbone of Konohagakure no Sato.

The Uzumaki settled into an island off the cost of Fire Country. They flourished and became masters of the Sealing Arts and the sword. They stuck to the Rikkudo's creed of spreading peace and love to the world but tempered it with a belief that fighting was necessary to promote them. While the Uzumaki Clan flourished, the Uchiha and Senju Clan fought for dominance until such time that the two feuding families united to form Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaf. Of course, upon hearing this, the Uzumaki Clan contributed to the creation of the village and was honored by having their clan symbol combined with theirs, the spiral in the center of the leaf signified Konoha ties with Uzushio.

Naruto couldn't help but be amazed that the Uzumaki Clan once had a healthy relationship with the bijuus, even to the point that they knew their names. However, the corruption of man reared its ugly head as many families and groups rose up to try and capture the tailed beasts and subjugate their powers for evil use. This was the reason why the bijuus were hostile to humans. Various methods and plans were created just to get them under control until some of them followed the Sage's example to seal the bijuus into humans who could control their powers – a jinchuuriki.

The last of the tailed beast that was sealed was Kyuubi. The most powerful of the bijuus was able to avoid humans who wanted his power, especially Kumo who started a hunt to get him under their banner. However, Uchiha Madara used the advanced version of the Sharingan to place him under his control and turned into a summon beast. He later forced Kyuubi to fight Senju Hashirama in the place now called the Valley of the End. A fierce battle ensued but Hashirama was able to destroy Madara's control over the bijuu. Uzumaki Mito who witnessed the battle decided that no one should use Kyuubi's powers for evil so she attempted a powerful ritual that resulted in Kyuubi being sealed inside her. She became the first jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

The blonde reincarnation of Sephiroth finished the book, his mind whirling with thoughts as to what he discovered. The Uzumaki Clan had a rich history and it was practically the reason why Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa was so scared of them that they banded together to wipe the clan out. They were successful in this regard since they totally destroyed Uzushio. However, the Uzumakis had the last laugh since the three powers didn't even get anything from their attack and suffered a huge loss in the process. The Uzukage had all of the clan's rich legacy stored into the catacombs underneath the Uzukage Tower and sealed it so that only an Uzumaki could open it. It was their victory despite being wiped out from the face of the Elemental Nation, a bitter victory but a victory all the same.

Naruto placed a hand on his stomach where the seal was located. He was now the third jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. His mother and father entrusted him with the burden of protecting the most powerful of the bijuu from anyone who wished to subjugate its power. With a glint in his eyes, Naruto decided that he would get in contact with Kyuubi as soon as possible. If he wanted his goals to be reached then he needed to fox to help him out.

The only problem was – he didn't know how.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto sat himself on top of a pile of lumber writing on his notebook while keeping an eye out for Tazuna as he labored on the bridge with the rest of the workforce. Thinking of the bijuu gave him an idea for a project that would be a great help in his shinobi career. It was currently in its planning phase, coming up with different theories, cataloguing the seals he would need, and the overall design of the weapon. He wasn't in a hurry though so he simply took down whatever he could think of and work on it when he got back to Konoha. He was about to turn another page when he overheard a conversation in front of him. He looked up to see Tazuna frowning at a man who had a defensive look on his face.

"You know, Kamo, if you can't work then just tell me." Tazuna informed the man.

"It's not that I don't want to work. It's just that…" Kamo trailed off but Tazuna had an understanding look on his face even though it was a sad one.

"No need to tell me anything, kid. I know how you feel. Tell you what, why don't you go home and take care of your family. I'll handle it from here." Tazuna assured the young man and patting him on the shoulder.

"…I'm sorry for letting you down, Tazuna-oji-san." said Kamo before turning away and left the bridge.

Tazuna sighed. That was the tenth worker this week. He started off the project with a hundred workers. Because of Gato, his manpower dwindled until he barely had enough to accommodate a skeleton crew. If any more quits then he would be the only one to finish the bridge. He sighed and turned to go back to his work but stopped when he heard someone call his name.

"Tazuna-san, what seems to be the problem?" asked Naruto, frowning at the dejected look on the man's face.

"Nothing. It's just another worker asking for a break." Tazuna answered with a fake smile plastered on his face but it didn't fool Naruto one bit.

"I see. How many workers do you have left?" Naruto asked immediately causing the old man's shoulder to droop.

"I only have 15 left. If this keeps up…" Tazuna trailed off before shaking his head, determination returning to his eyes. "No matter. I don't care if all of them stopped working because of Gato. I will finish this bridge even if I die trying!"

Naruto grinned. He liked the man. Despite having the odds against him, he would do anything to free his people from Gato's tyranny.

"Let me ask you this, how many workers do you need to finish this bridge in a week?" Naruto asked innocently, his mind also coming up with a number on how many the unfinished bridge would be able to accommodate in one go.

"A week, huh?" Tazuna mused, pulling on his beard while deep in thought. "If I want to finish this bridge in a week then I need a solid 200 workers to get it done."

"Is that so?" Naruto said with a nod before a sly look crossed his face. "What if I tell you that there is a way to get 200 workers easily?"

Tazuna drooled at the prospect of having such a large force under his command. If he had 200 workers then this bridge was as good as done. He looked challenging at the amused shinobi in front of him. "Hah! What's the catch, kid? Even if you can provide me with that number, I don't think I have the money to pay them all for a week."

Naruto smirked before flaring his chakra. **"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**the unfinished bridge was covered in smoke before it dispersed to reveal 200 Naruto's grinning at him. "Well, old man. There's your workforce."

Tazuna stared at the sea of blondes in front of him. Even his remaining workers were speechless at the sight. "H-how?" he managed to stutter out.

"I'm a shinobi. We can do anything." was Naruto's cheeky reply before clapping the old man's shoulder. "These clones are solid and have all of my abilities and skill. Tell them what to do and they'll do it. Keep in mind that they are shinobi too, like me, so expect them to be stronger than your average person."

Tazuna stared at Naruto in shock before bowing profusely. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I don't know how to repay you for all this."

"I don't require payment. Just finish the bridge and free your people." Naruto said with a shrug before going back to his notes. "If you need any more, don't hesitate to ask. There's more where they came from."

Tazuna grinned before turning to look at the expectant faces awating his order. "Alright, gakis. Let's get to work!"

The shouts of 200 clones and a few of Tazuna's remaining workers scared the grazing herd of deer on the other side of the island.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto stood on his Hover Board overlooking a large mansion in the middle of the forest. He finally found Gato's base by following the thugs who came to the town and 'acquired' the offering for their boss. He immediately followed the group when they exited the town using an invisibility spell before using his board to rise above the trees to assess the terrain. He was so disappointed.

It would seem that Gato's main army consisted of thugs, thieves, bandits, and a few mercenaries he picked up along the way. A brief use of Scan showed that none were shinobi except for two signatures that he recognized. When he got the result of the diagnostic spell, his lips could help but curve into a smile. He was looking forward to a rematch with Zabuza and maybe have a round with the pseudo-Hunter shinobi too if given the chance. However, he decided against it since they weren't a part of his mission.

His mission was plain and simple – eliminate Gato.

Naruto frowned. Unfortunately, or fortunately in his case, he was accustomed to death thanks to his memories as Sephiroth. However, memories were quite different from reality. Sure, these memories were genuine and they did happen but there was a difference between then and now. Naruto knew that he could take a life if he really needed to but it doesn't mean that he had to like it. If he was honest with himself, he had no qualms killing Gato since the man was a scum, a thief, a parasite, a bane to all innocent. No, he had no problems killing if such a person was concerned.

There was also the question on what to do with Gato's men. His strategic mind already came up with difference scenarios on how these people would react if they suddenly found Gato dead in the morning, torn to bits, sliced and diced like chopped meat. One possibility, the one that he liked, was getting them so spooked that they would leave Wave with tails tucked between their legs. Another possibility was the potential of venting out their anger on the nearest target – the town of Wave. Naruto's face turned grim when he realized that these men were petty enough to opt for the second possibility.

If he wanted to succeed in this mission then he would have to take care of Gato and his bandits in one fell swoop. A bloodthirsty grin made its way to his way, a quirk he got from Sephiroth that bled to his present reincarnation. Tenten noticed it at first and commented when she first saw it. She wasn't afraid of it since this was simply an indicator that he was enjoying the fight. He could control himself easily if he wanted to kill his opponent or hold back to let them live another day. Tenten called him an oddity but in a good way that made Naruto smile.

Naruto watched the bandits light up the fires as the sun set over the horizon.

The culling would start tonight and he knew of the weapon to get it done.

But first, he had two people he needed to recruit and if they accept then he would have two new helpers to help him in his goal.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Zabuza grunted as Haku wrapped the last of his wounds. He couldn't remember the last time he suffered such grave injuries. In truth, this was the first time he was injured to a degree that he almost died if not for the timely intervention of his tool. He shuddered when he remembered the attack that almost gave him a one way ticket to the afterlife and the boy who made it happen.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He shuddered as he remembered the innumerable slashes he suffered under the boy's blade as it pierced his skin and drew blood. He shuddered at the boy's calm eyes, eyes that showed countless battles, power beyond belief, and a mind that surpassed any genius he could think off. He thought that Konoha grew weak compared to his home, Kirigakure no Sato. But his beliefs were dashed. How could Konoha be weak if they could train such…such monster!

No, Momochi Zabuza knew that if he ever faced Uzumaki Naruto again, then it would be a fight to the death, a fight that he would surely loose.

Despite his pride as a swordsman, his pride as an A-rank shinobi, he would never face Uzumaki Naruto if he could help it.

"Haku, how long do you think I will make a full recovery?" Zabuza asked the teen.

"A week. Two at the most, Zabuza-sama." Haku reported. Despite his rather feminine looks, his voice gave away his true gender.

"Why is it taking so long?" Zabuza growled.

"Your body can't keep up with all of the wounds you sustained, Zabuza-sama. This…Uzumaki Naruto gave you more than fifty wounds in a span of thirty seconds. You lost quite a lot of blood and you broke some of your bones when he kicked you to the ground. You…you were lucky, Zabuza-sama. I thought you were dead. You were lucky." Haku said in a morbid tone that was quite new for him. They had been in life and death situations before and they usually came out unscathed if not for a few wounds here and there, nothing critical to merit worry. But now, after facing the blonde swordsman with powerful techniques that doesn't require hand seals, they finally saw death for the first time. It was…frightening. He was lucky he didn't get to face the boy, no man, directly but his master certainly did and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Zabuza merely nodded, Haku's report cementing his decision.

"When you think that my wounds are healed enough for us to travel, we will abandon our contract and hightail it out of here." He finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"Are you sure, Zabuza-sama?" Haku said with some surprise. He knew that Zabuza's pride as a swordsman demands a rematch, a fight to the death to bring back his lost honor as a wielder of the blade; more so his pride as one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. He definitely didn't except this. "You don't want a…rematch?"

Zabuza gave Haku a long look. "For once in my life, Haku, I don't think pride will save me nor it is a good emotion to indulge in. I know my skills as a shinobi and a swordsman are top-notch; I will gladly face a Kage in battle without fear. But this…this Uzumaki Naruto. There is something about him, something that inspires fear. I don't know why but something inside me is telling me that I was lucky to survive. He is not someone you would face without an army behind your back. For once, it is better to count our losses and seek some missions elsewhere even if Gato promised to pay us big money for the bridge builder's death. My goal can wait for a few years."

Haku was about to say something when a chuckle echoed around the room. He immediately pulled out three senbons with a flick of his wrist, prepared to face the intruder. Even Zabuza was prepared, a kunai in his hand since he wasn't strong enough to wield his zanbatou.

"This is practically the first time I heard a compliment like that outside my ANBU friends and the Sandaime. I am flattered." said the voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zabuza demanded, preparing for a fight.

"There's no need for hostilities, Momochi Zabuza, Haku. If I wanted a fight then you two would be dead before any of you could make a move." Naruto finally materialized beside the door with a soft smile on his face. His appearance caused quite an amusing reaction to those present other than him – Haku was now standing in front of Zabuza, his face showing fear but there was steel in his eyes and the determination to protect his master, to the death of need be. Zabuza showed fear in his eyes but the same determination was there. These two weren't going down without a fight.

"What are you doing here? Come to finish the job?" Zabuza growled, grip tightening around his puny weapon.

"I'll keep him occupied while you escape, Zabuza-sama. Please prepare." said Haku in a determined voice while throwing three senbons at Naruto who merely grabbed them from the air and examining them one by one. He smiled.

"As I said, Haku, I am not here to kill you." stated Naruto as he lazily threw the weapon to the side without a care in the world.

"Then why are you here?" asked Zabuza, his voice held more curiosity than resolve.

"To talk, nothing more nothing less." he replied casually as he made his way to the lone chair in the room by the window. "Can I take this seat? I've been standing all day and it's quite tiring."

Zabuza and Haku looked at the blonde with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Out of all the things they expected, they didn't expect this…this…man to simply ask them for a seat. Whatever Naruto said must have fried their brains since the only thing they did was nod.

"Thanks." said Naruto before sitting himself with a sigh. He was standing for 4 hours on that damn Hover Board and his legs weren't used to doing nothing. Sure, he could stand for a whole day if need be but not stationary. "Now, as I said before you went hostile on me, I merely came here to talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Haku asked, his stance showing his alertness and readiness to attack.

"I have a proposition for the two of you." Naruto started, smile still plastered on his face. From what these two showed, he definitely wanted them in his group. They might not have the brains to help him with his inventions but having a few helpers wouldn't be amiss. Clones do tend to get boring after a while. He paused for a bit since he had this feeling that he was channeling Sephiroth all of a sudden but dismissed it. "In a few hours, I will unleash my…summon upon Gato and wipe out all of his forces to free Wave from his tyranny. However, I have no fight against the two of you and I am quite impressed with both of your skills. So here is my proposition, I want to hire the two of you to be part of my team, so to speak."

"What?" Zabuza and Haku exclaimed in unison. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Instead of being brutally murdered, they were being given an option for employment. It was surreal even for their standards.

"Hm, I think I was clear in my intention but no matter." Naruto quipped, amused by the two's reaction. Really, was it hard to believe that he had no intentions of killing them? "I wish to hire both of you. I can use my…position in the Konoha Military to conscript the two of you as my personal…team of sorts. Of course, you have a choice. You can either work for me as a Konoha shinobi or I will hire the two of you with pay. What will it be?"

Haku didn't say anything but Zabuza certainly did.

"That is an intriguing proposal. But let me ask you this, if Haku and I refuse your offer, what will you do to us?"

"Nothing." Naruto answered immediately without hesitation.

"I find that hard to believe." Zabuza scoffed.

"Hard to believe but it's the truth, Momochi Zabuza. Let me ask you then - would you still be my enemy IF Gato is no longer in play? And what will I gain in killing the both of you?"

That brought Zabuza short and he definitely knew the answer. "No, if Gato is out of the picture then we have no quarrels with each other. As for what you would gain, notoriety for one and the bounty of my head especially if you cash it in Kiri."

"Then I have no reason to take your lives on both counts. I don't need to be famous just by killing a missing nin. I can easily achieve notoriety through my own actions and inventions. As for the money, I have the Hokage backing up my inventions and experiments. My parents also left me quite a sum so I'm not worried. I am also earning an equivalent of C to S-rank missions with my inventions alone. So no, I don't see any benefits in taking your life." Naruto said simply. "However, good help are hard to find these days so I took the opportunity when it presented itself."

"What does this…job entail?" asked Haku, curious now over the whole thing since he couldn't feel an ounce of malicious intent from the blonde swordsman. That and he was getting tired of running around dodging Hunter shinobi after their heads, more specifically, his master's head.

"I am an inventor, or you can even dub me as a Shinobi Inventor if you wish." Naruto said with some amusement. "I am currently the head of my own department in Konoha ANBU, the first Research and Development Division with the goal to invent useful items for the betterment of the village. The reason why I want to hire the two of you is two-fold. One, I need a team that would help me test my inventions without exhausting Konoha's resources. As I said, good help is hard to find these days so I definitely need to form my own team for this venture. The second reason is that it is quite lonely working in a department with only one person to run it. So I guess the second reason is company."

"Let me get this straight, you want to hire the two of us as your personal lab rats?" Zabuza asked incredulously. He briefly wondered if this guy was a second Orochimaru.

"Lab rats? Kami no! I am not going to use you two as my experiments." Naruto said dryly, insulted by their assumptions. "Let me give you an example. Let's say I invented a method to properly test a few enhancements on a certain sword. Of course, Zabuza would be testing the sword for me. So that is your job, after I make sure that my inventions are safe to handle, you will be tasked to test it out for me, find problems that needs fixing, issues that needs correcting and all that rot."

Zabuza thought of the offer and couldn't deny the fact that it was good. If the Hokage doesn't accept their joining then they could easily slip out of the village and resume their trials to accomplish his goal. If the Hokage agrees then they won't be having problems with Hunters any time soon. He looked at Haku and saw his partner-slash-tool looking at him with excitement. He guessed that settled it.

"Fine, we accept your offer. But I have a request…or more specifically, a favor." Zabuza grunted out with Naruto looking at him in curiosity.

"Does this have something to do with the goal you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes. The reason why I'm a rogue shinobi is because I tried to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage. I think you already know that he started the Bloodline Purge in Kiri, correct?" Naruto nodded, telling Zabuza that he knew what he was talking about. "That is the reason why I tried to kill the bastard. I failed and was declared a missing nin. Haku here is, um, my partner. I picked him up after he killed his father using his bloodline when the idiot killed his mother. I trained him to the best of my abilities and he saved me a lot of times during our many missions. My goal is to support the underground movement who are planning to raise a revolution, oust and kill the Yondaime Mizukage, and bring Kiri back to the way it was before. I am taking a lot of missions because I am funding the movement until their goal is met." Zabuza explained.

Naruto nodded in understanding before he smiled slyly at his new…helper. "So let me guess, you are either asking me to forward your salary to the Kiri Rebels or you want me to devise a way to help you with your plan to get rid of the tyrant. Which one is it?"

Zabuza grunted. This boy, no, man was definitely out of his league. He read him like a book. "The latter. Since you are an inventor and have the Sandaime's ear, maybe you can help me find a way to help the rebels destroy the Mizukage once and for all."

Naruto thought for a bit before answering. "That's a toughie. You do know for a fact that Konoha can't directly help you in this regard, correct?" Zabuza grunted in affirmative making Naruto smirk. "However, I find your request…intriguing. Very well, I will help you with your request. However, this will be done my way. Agreed?"

"Do I have a choice?" Zabuza asked somewhat sarcastically causing Haku to flinch, expecting their new employer to lash out at them. He didn't except for Naruto to smile at the man though.

"Everyone has a choice, Zabuza. It is up to you if you make the right one or not." Naruto said sagely before getting out of his seat and made his way to the door. "Now, that's over and done with, I am going to pay Gato a little visit. However, a word of warning, no matter what happens; don't leave the safety of this room. I can't guarantee your safety if you're out there with what I'm going to do. Understood?"

Zabuza grunted in agreement.

"As you wish, Naruto-sama." said Haku with a bow causing Naruto to quirk an eyebrow at the sudden use of honorifics.

"You don't have to call me that, Haku." Naruto chided the teen who he knew was much older than him, possible two or three years if he surmised a guess.

Haku shook his head. "Since we are now under your employment, it is only normal for me to give you the respect you deserve, Naruto-sama." He said with a smile on his face.

Naruto shook his head before looking at a rather amused Zabuza. "He won't change his mind, will he?" he asked dryly.

"Nope. Better get used to it." Zabuza quipped before releasing a hearty chuckle. He didn't know why but his gut feeling was telling him that he made the right choice in accepting the inventor's offer.

"Ugh. Fine. Stay here and don't open the door." Naruto said with a sigh before teleporting out of the room to the shock of his underlings.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto appeared under the shadows of the trees just outside the reach of the thugs' illumination. He mulled over ideas on how to finish Gato and his goons. The Destroyer in him wanted to wade in everyone's blood. The innocence in him wanted to just knock everyone out, take Gato and let him face justice under the hands of the people of Wave. The inventor in him, however, decided to test his abilities to see if he had what it takes to move to the next step of his training.

It was the inventor who won the vote.

Naruto grinned as he channeled every drop of magical energy in his body. This would be the first time he would try his hand at summoning a powerful entity that was rarely known during Sephiroth's time. Luckily for the blonde, his past counterpart was so curious about the myths and tracked it down until he found the materia that housed its spirit. As far as Naruto could tell, Sephiroth only used it once and once alone. Naruto was going to attempt to use it for the second time.

Charging up his magic, he started whispering the words of summoning.

"**God of the Underworld, Ruler of Death, Judge of the Guilty and the Damned. I call upon the hated foe of Life, the end of all, the ultimate demise of all that breathes. I summon thee from the depths of Tartarus. Listen to my call, God of Death. Come forth and do my bidding. Hades!"**

Naruto felt all the magic in his body gush out of his being towards the summoning circle that appeared in front of him. Slowly, the circle rotated until it picked up speed, glowing in eerie light, as a being of power and death materialized within its confines. Naruto couldn't help but feel awed at the power of the summon in front of him, a power that none of this world now possessed except him.

"**Who dares call upon the God of Death? Who dares summon me, the feared Hades!"**

"I, Uzumaki Naruto, reincarnation of Sephiroth, summon thee, Hades, God of the Underworld." intoned Naruto in a powerful voice. Despite emptying his magical reserves, he didn't have any plans of showing weakness to any of his summons.

Hades regally lowered its gaze to look at him, the fire in the summon's eyes seemed to bore into his soul, judging him, measuring him. It lasted for a few second but for Naruto, it seemed like hours.

"**What is your command, summoner?"**

Naruto pointed at the mansion in front of him. "I summoned thee, Hades, to reap the souls of these evildoers. Leave none alive except for two that is my ally."

"**So you wish it, summoner, so it will be done."** Hades boomed as he bowed to Naruto who watched with morbid fascination as the God of Death released an inky black smoke from his mouth, smoke that traversed the grounds of Gato's headquarters, sapping the life of anything it touches. One by one, Gato's men simply fell to the ground followed by the rest. Shouts were heard as the men noticed their comrades die before their very eyes before following the same path themselves. Naruto watched the smoke enter the mansion before hearing screams and shouts of fear coming from the people inside. A few minutes later, the shouting ceased as silence reigned. Hades bowed to him once more before sinking into the summoning seal, disappearing completely into its depth before the circle followed.

Naruto watched the ground for a few minutes before sighing in relief. "That was interesting." He said tiredly before noticing the emptiness that was his magical core. It was slowly replenishing itself but a bit too slow for his taste. "Definitely need more training if I want to bring out the bigger guns." He mused before shaking his head. "Who am I kidding? Hades IS one of the bigger guns, idiot."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Hades ended Gato's tyranny over Wave Country, Naruto went back to Zabuza's quarters to inform the two that it was now safe to come out. He didn't tell them how he destroyed Gato but he didn't need to since they heard the desperate screams of the thugs from their location. Deciding that Zabuza was needed to clean out Gato's base, he healed the man much to his and Haku's amazement before giving them their respective tasks. Sure, he could have made dozens of clones to help him get this done but he reasoned that he wants to see how useful these two were and if they were trustworthy enough to give them the benefit of a doubt.

Naruto respected their skills and abilities but only time can really tell if he trusted them enough for important things.

Zabuza was tasked to search Gato's mansion for documents regarding the man's activities in the Elemental Nations. The man grumbled when he heard that order since he was a fighter, not a desk junkie. Naruto ignored him his rant as he sorted through the fat businessman's paperwork.

Haku was tasked to sort out Gato's financial empire since the man kept a detailed record of his monetary dealings, a job that Haku eagerly complied since the teen had a knack for anything that involved finance. He was just weird that way. His second task was to find transaction records concerning the people of Wave since they needed to return the money to the townsfolk before going back to Konoha.

Naruto took the liberty of getting rid of the bodies. Since his magical energy wasn't up to snuff for high-tier spells, he resorted to using his chakra-based jutsus since he had plenty of it in stick. He spammed fireballs that burned the dead bodies to ash. He enjoyed it but the smell of burning flesh turned his stomach. When that was done, he called up Kakashi on the communicator to inform him that Gato was no longer a problem. He didn't answer his surrogate brother's question as to how he achieved such a feat but merely hinted that it was a bloodline thing. It was quite obvious that Kakashi didn't believe him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was sipping a glass of wine pilfered from Gato's stock underneath the mansion while thinking of a certain projects he wanted to start. The man may have had his faults but he had good taste. Zabuza was drooling when he found a hidden room that showcased the businessman's wine collection. It was safe to say that the Demon of the Mist was going to enjoy every single one of them. He was kind enough to give Naruto a few bottles out of the goodness of his heart much to the blonde's amusement.

The blonde was specifically thinking of Project Black Leaf as he enjoyed the silence of Gato's sitting room.

Naruto smirked when he remembered how he and a dozen of his clones talked about Sephiroth's memories of Shinra's many organizations. They were trying to brainstorm over some of Shinra's technologies and how they could replicate it using the limited tech they have at their disposal. He didn't know how but the brainstorming session over technology shifted to the creation of an organization under R&D that was similar to the Turks. If ANBU was the shadow of Konoha, the one Naruto and his clones had in mind was going to be the public face.

After hours of brainstorming, ideas being passed back and forth, a lot of theories, and some food provided by helpful clones, they were able to come up with a set of guidelines for the creation of such organization that would be independent from Konoha's Military System but under the command and jurisdiction of the Hokage.

Finishing the wine in one smooth gulp, sighing as the fiery brew ran down his throat and setting his stomach on fire that pushed back the cold night air, Naruto pulled out his com-panel and placed a spare earpiece on the slot. He turned it on and waited for the static to die down.

"You awake, jiji?" Naruto started and smirked when he heard the aged leader coughing to get his bearings under control.

"_**You're going to be the death of me, Naruto-kun. Could you please add a bell or something to this communication system of your so I don't get startled every time you call?"**_ the Hokage whined which made Naruto snicker.

"Will do, jiji."

"_**Thanks. This isn't a social call I take it?"**_

"Not really." Naruto admitted. "Did you let a clone install a computer in your office?"

"_**That I did and I'm really happy that you offered, Naruto-kun. It made my job a lot easier. I can easily sort through mission reports without having to stamp papers all day. Well, I just read while the clones stamped but I digress. Is something the matter?"**_

"I'm going to send something to you in a minute. It should pop out on your screen." said Naruto before putting the panel on mute while channeling a bit of chakra to his private line with his AI. "Kuroto, could you please send the specifics of Project Black Leaf to the Hokage's computer and make sure that its open since I don't think jiji knows how to interface with my private server as of yet."

"_**As you wish, Naruto-sama."**_said Kuroto through the ear piece.

"Thank you." said Naruto before removing the mute form his conversation with the Hokage. "Did you see a window with the label Black Leaf on it, jiji?"

"_**I am reading it right now, Naruto-kun. This is a very ambitious project."**_

"Uh huh. Scroll down a bit. You'll see the list of members I have in mind."

"_**You do know for a fact that most of the people in this group are rogue shinobi, right?"**_

"I know. I worked with Kuroto for three days to go through the Bingo Book. I have a criteria regarding the members I plan to induct into the organization and, as you can see, their crimes are minor enough to warrant them a second chance. This way, I don't have to train the members since they are already trained. All they need is a bit of refinement and they're good to go."

"_**I'm sorry to say that I can't approve of this project, Naruto-kun. The risk of betrayal is quite high and with the weapons you plan to equip them with…it would be a disaster to the village."**_

"I already thought of that, jiji. Scroll down a bit, you'll see how I'll make sure that betrayal won't be a problem." Naruto listened as the line went dead for a bit before the Hokage's shocked voice blared out of the speaker.

"_**This is ingenious, Naruto-kun. Is the modification already finished?"**_

"Not yet, old man. I still have to tweak it a bit to make sure that they can't find a loophole in the matrix. There aren't that many Seal Experts or Seal Masters in the Elemental Nation but I am pretty sure that there are only two people who are able to work it out, me and Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"_**I agree. You really made this old man proud, Naruto. You definitely surpassed your parents with your inventions and innovations."**_

"Thanks, Hokage-jiji. So what do you think? Will Project Black Leaf become a reality?"

"_**I will have to discuss this with my advisors but I don't think they would go against it. I'm sure Danzo would find this appealing."**_

Naruto scoffed. "As if we care what that old warmonger thinks. If he is against this idea then we can blackmail him to agreeing."

"_**I still don't know how you were able to find out about his ROOT being active."**_

"The first time I met Danzo when you visited my laboratory, I sensed something fishy about the man. I had a few of my clones under invisibility spell watch him. He has quite a few underground bunkers all over Konoha and they are filled to the brim with his 'bodyguards'."

"_**I see, I think Danzo and I will have a long talk about this. I already ordered him to disband his ROOT Program but it seems that my dear old friend is up to his old tricks again."**_

"Leave it be for now, jiji. I already have a complete inventory of all his 'hidden' locations and we can strike anytime we want. For now, let's keep this between ourselves since we can use it to our advantage later if he decides to muddy up the works."

"_**Fine. I'll leave that to you. I'll call the Shinobi Council and my advisors in the morning to discuss this organization of yours. I can already see a lot of benefits this will give to Konoha as a whole. Why didn't you consider inducting our own elites into the group? That would save you the trouble of tracking your potential members down."**_

"That would reduce Konoha's resources, jiji. Let's face it, most of the Jounins and Elites you have in the ranks are already famous. If I induct them into the group then it's like the organization is riding on their coattails. No, I want this organization to start at the bottom and work our way to the top, earning notoriety with our abilities and mission rosters."

"_**Hm, definitely an ambitious plan. Alright, I'll discuss this with the council and advisors. How long do you need to get this group up and running? I saw the list of weapons you plan to equip them with and I can safely say that they are definitely unique and powerful. Do you already have them on hand?"**_

"Not yet. Most of those are still in the woodwork while some are still in paper. I will devote all my time in this project when I return to Konoha tomorrow."

"_**Ah, your mission is a success I take it?"**_

"Gato is out of commission, jiji, and we are currently ransacking his mansion for anything important we can use for the village. Oh yeah, before I forget, I already have Zabuza and his apprentice under employment. The two of them will be the first to join the organization if it is approved."

"_**You definitely work fast, Naruto-kun. I take it you want me to induct them into the ranks?"**_

"Yes, but only on a temporary basis, jiji. In fact, they won't be visible for quite a while since I plan for them to help me test some of my inventions."

"_**You're going to use the seals on them?"**_

"When completed, yes I will."

"_**Hm, if that is the case then we need to be covert about this project. Here's what you're going to do, I want you to move all your inventions concerning Project Black Leaf to your lab underneath your apartment. ANBU HQ is quite open to those who know of its location and I want complete secrecy on your inventions concerning this operation. Leave the public experiments visible to avoid suspicions. Keep Zabuza and his apprentice on a tight leash in your apartment. Tell them not to show themselves to the public since I don't want Kiri on our throats right now even though they don't have the manpower to declare war with anyone."**_

"You got it, old man. I'll rendezvous with Kakashi in the morning before leaving for Konoha. We will enter the village at night under secrecy."

"_**Do that. Is there anything else I need to know about?"**_

"Not at the moment."

"_**Alright. Over and out."**_

Naruto grinned as he stowed his com-system back into his pocket dimension. He was happy. Project Black Leaf was moving in the right direction. He just hoped that the council and advisors won't be giving him a headache when they learn of his plans.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It has been two months since his mission to Wave Country and Naruto has been very busy since returning to the village. Zabuza and Haku were now officially his employees and were living with him in his newly-renovated apartment complex. He had a meeting with the Hokage regarding his many projects upon stepping into the leader's office, after debriefing of course.

Gato's documents were forwarded to a team of ANBU to track it down to possibly consolidate it into Konoha while working on the side of closing some of the more shady business the dead business had in his portfolio. All in all, Konoha's coffers would enjoy a major boost and the Hokage promised Naruto getting a chunk of it for his department's budget. The blonde swordsman couldn't be happier with the result. After all, who was stupid enough to say no to money?

Two days after his return, he was immediately called to a meeting with the Hokage, Koharu, Homura, and Danzo regarding Project Black Leaf. The project was accepted since Naruto had Kuroto compile ALL the details about it, pointing the advantages to the village's overall performance and popularity. However, he was given a condition that he needed to finish the weapons he planned for the members and tested to completion before they would start recruiting. Danzo adamantly refused the inclusion of rogue shinobi into the ranks but a whispered threat from the Sandaime regarding his 'bodyguards' immediately quieted the man. Naruto knew that there would be a confrontation between himself and Danzo in the future; he was going to make sure that he came out on top if that ever happened.

Speaking of projects, Naruto's worked with the ones requested by the Sandaime alongside his experiments and innovations for Project Black Leaf.

For the Sandaime, Naruto was tasked to replace the outdated power plant in Konoha with something much better. The reason for this project was the large population in the village that was more than the small power plant could handle. Naruto's solution was quite simple. He riddled the walls around Konoha with chakra absorption seals and coupled it with interconnecting relay seals to divert it to a central storage battery deep inside ANBU HQ. There, a large converter seal was created to slowly filter the converted electricity into the power plants sub-stations before released to the various houses and buildings in the village. From an outsider's point of view, Konoha was dependent on their power plant. But for a chosen few, the village was now powered by the ambient chakra. It was a saboteur's nightmare since that was one avenue they couldn't use to destroy Konoha from within.

Naruto made a special point to tell the Hokage that he wanted a cut on the project since it would help fund his future experiments with the aged leader giving in due to the excess money it would generate since they won't be maintaining the power plants operation due to it no longer producing electricity.

Another project the Sandaime commissioned Naruto to undertake was the improvement of Konoha's defense grid, more specifically, the barrier that surrounds the village to monitor people entering and leaving the village. From what Naruto learned, the barrier system surrounds Konoha in a sphere, covering both the air and ground. Its size was dependent on the large wall protecting the village since the seals to maintain the invisible construct were there, all of it connected to a team of specialist in ANBU HQ to monitor and maintain it.

Naruto's task was to find a way to make the barrier solid enough that it could withstand an assault. In a way, the Sandaime wanted a way to immediately turn Konoha into a stronghold just in case. The barrier would keep invaders from entering the village and anyone from leaving. Naruto assigned quite a lot of clones for that project since he was also quite excited on the research potential alone considering the date he would get from it would help other experiments and projects currently in the backburner.

Currently, Naruto was enjoying a cup of coffee while facing a large screen. In the middle of the screen was a visual of Mitarashi Anko's Cursed Seal given to her by Orochimaru, her sensei before he went rogue. This was the latest project the Sandaime gave to him – the safe removal of the Cursed Seal and to really find out how the cursed hickey works. He immediately jumped on the project since it was related to how Mako affected a SOLDIER from Anko's description of its effects. Despite being a fuuinjutsu construct, or a juuinjutsu to be exact, Jiraiya wasn't able to make any headway on its removal. However, Naruto had no problems thanks to the many seals he acquired from Uzu. One of them being a Diagnostic Seal that could scan and analyze any seal it was placed on, a seal that he used in many of his experiments to break down known seals and studying how they worked, allowing him to learn the intricacies instead of the finished product.

The first scan yielded a fount of information about the Cursed Seal of Heaven that gave Naruto a grudging respect for Orochimaru's twisted mind.

For starters, the Cursed Seal of Heaven was a combination of chemical-based enhancement guided by a sealing script that bound it to the person's chakra pathways. The enzymes, which Naruto didn't know how it came to be, amplifies a person's chakra potency allowing for a boost in power. However, the enzyme has a psychological side-effect that brings out a person's negative personality, turning a person into a berserker with a chemically-induced sugar-high.

The sealing script surrounding the enzyme has two primary functions.

The first function was giving Orochimaru some hold over that person using the juuinjutsu as a medium. He could do anything with that person if truth be told, like putting them under torturous pain, shutting down their motor functions, or even a form of mind control if he had enough time to completely dominate the person using his chakra.

The second function of the seal was to slowly destroy a person's willpower using their primal urges, or in this case, their lust for battle. Naruto was confused over the second function since it would end up destroying a valuable pawn.

However, scanning the seal structure itself revealed the purpose of the second function. It would seem that Orochimaru found a way to inject a piece of his soul into the matrix, thus giving light to the second use of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It would slowly eat away the person's mental defense that would make it easier for Orochimaru to possess that person's body. The soul inside the seal would slowly open up a connection between the body and Orochimaru, making it easy for the Snake Sannin to possess them.

He couldn't help compare Orochimaru to Shinra's Professor Hojo – demented, diabolical geniuses the both of them.

This was why Naruto was currently studying the seal matrix surrounding the enzymes in hopes of removing it, or as a last resort, contain it so effectively that it would turn it into a non-functional tattoo.

"Removing the Cursed Seal of Heaven on subject Mitarashi Anko would theoretically require two procedures. The first requires breaking down the enzymes and separating it from the subject's chakra pathways. The second procedure would involve destroying the seal matrix to fully release a person from its effects. However, the scan results show that the seal matrix acts as an anchor, allowing it to attach to the subject's chakra coil, making it almost impossible to remove, and Orochimaru's soul fragment reinforced that anchor with a great deal of durability." Naruto mused while Kuroto recorded it for future reference. "First theory for removal involved the use of a high-powered Dispel but dismissed the idea since the Cursed Seal of Heaven is not an energy construct. It's more like a drug with a brain."

Naruto punched a few more buttons on his keyboard to bring up another window, this one containing a list of Seal Arrays his clones encoded after reading the various Uzumaki scrolls on the subject.

"If removal is impossible, the next logical solution would be to contain the seal that it won't harm the subject. At the moment, the subject's Cursed Seal is bound into a state of inactivity using the Evil Sealing Method, a seal matrix that forces down cursed seal into a dormant state through the subject's willpower. In other words, if the subject's mind wavers then it is a high possibility that the Cursed Seal will activate." he narrated as he took notes of some sealing techniques known only by his family. "There are three Uzumaki sealing arrays that could easily contain the Cursed Seal more effectively than the _Evil Sealing Method_. One is the _Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method_, the _Eight Point Chakra Lock_, and the _Shinso Seal Lock_."

The _Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method_ was an Uzumaki Sealing Array that was commonly used on shinobi that suffers an effect caused by a technique. For example, if a person was subjected to a form of 'curse' then the Five Barrier Evil Sealing Method would put a containment barrier around the 'curse' to effectively cut it off from the victim. It doesn't remove the 'curse' but merely contain it in a separate dimension. For Naruto, this was the most effective containment seal for Anko's Cursed Seal.

_The Eight Point Chakra Lock_ was mostly used on prisoners to permanent seal away their chakra. Naruto immediately disregarded this since this would destroy Anko's shinobi career. The seal wouldn't target the Cursed Seal's corrosive chakra; it would seal away ALL chakra, effectively turning said person into a civilian. He knew that this avenue was not advisable.

The last was a _Shinso Seal Lock_, a variation of the _Eight Point Chakra Lock_ but can be turned off. This was mostly used as a way for a shinobi to pass off as a civilian during missions since Uzumakis had such huge chakra reserves that it was almost impossible to suppress them. The only drawback to this method was the five-minute delay it would take to deactivate. For a shinobi, five minutes was already too long to safely consider.

Naruto sighed as he ended the recording and saving all the notes he compiled on the Cursed Seal of Heaven. At this point in time, there was no way to safely remove the seal or devise a more effective containment array other than the Evil Sealing Method. He made a special point to assign a few clones to devote on the project and maybe have Anko brought in for further examination on the Cursed Seal, like getting a sample of the enzymes that makes it tick.

Naruto turned on his chair to see a large monitor showing Zabuza and Haku training underneath his apartment complex. One of his instructions to his 'employees' was to make sure that they kept their strength at their peak so they shouldn't slack off in their training. The two definitely loved the idea since they had no intentions of weakening themselves anytime soon. Naruto pressed a few buttons that opened up two smaller windows on the screen that showed real-time information on duo's overall physical and mental health. He finally finished the seal matrix he would apply on the members of Project Black Leaf and he couldn't help but be happy that he found the solution on the many Uzumaki scrolls he acquired.

The now-dubbed Black Leaf Seal was a combination of different seals rolled into one with a twist hidden under the guise of three Konoha symbol forming a triquetra with the Uzumaki Symbol in the background.

For starters, it incorporates a diagnostic/scanning seal that would allow Naruto to assess their physical and mental health, like what he was doing now. It also has a locator seal connected to his GPS system managed by Kuroto so he would know where the members were located. The matrix also incorporates his hybrid storage seal giving them the ability to store unlimited number of items without having to bring scrolls all the time.

Finally, the last and hidden capability of the seal was a mind-wipe array. If a member betrays the organization then the mind-wipe seal would activate, erasing all memories that person had after the seal was applied that pertained to Project Black Leaf. Naruto was opposed to the idea of killing that person so the next best thing was to erase all of the person's memories of the organization.

Naruto had a variation of this seal for the ANBU which they now use since it was completed. It was superimposed on their ANBU tattoos so he wouldn't have to redo everything all over again. This way, the Hokage could track his shadow units. It was modified since the array didn't include the hybrid storage seals since that were for Naruto and Project Black Leaf only. He did, however, gave the Hokage one grafted on the back of his palm. Tenten also had one too for her many weapons.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he watched Zabuza evade Haku's ice senbons when Kuroto spoke through the speakers.

"**The Hokage just entered the building, Naruto-sama, and currently on his way to your laboratory."**

"Hm? Jiji's here? Wonder what he wants." Naruto asked himself as he turned off the screen and turning on his chair to face the door that just opened to reveal the Sandaime puffing on his pipe. "Good evening, jiji."

"Good evening, Naruto-kun. Doing well, I hope?" said the aged leader who took a seat in front of his surrogate grandson, noting the high-tech machinery one side including multiple monitors that served as his surrogate grandson's workstation. Orochimaru would be drooling with envy if he saw Naruto's inventions.

"No problem so far though Orochi-teme's juuinjutsu is giving me a headache." Naruto admitted with a wry grin on his face.

The Sandaime nodded since he understood what Naruto meant. His former student's work was definitely mind-boggling. He was a genius, a demented genius but a genius all the same.

"What have you found so far?" he asked his surrogate grandson who now became one of the most respected shinobi in the village thanks to his many contributions to the military in terms of inventions and weapons. The modified senbon launcher that could store an unlimited number of senbons and launch them at enemies at faster than the usual speed was definitely a welcome one and fast becoming of the ANBUs favorite weapon. Last time he heard, Anko was showing it off to her fellow Jounins since Naruto gave her one as payment for letting him study the cursed hickey as he dubbed it on her neck. Those who saw its capabilities were practically combing the village where to get one since Anko was tightlipped as to where or who she got it from.

Naruto took a folder out from his drawer containing the printed results of Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven.

"See for yourself." he said before sliding the folder towards the leader who immediately took it and read its contents.

Sarutobi frowned since the results opened up certain memories involving his former student and his inhumane experiments.

"This is worrisome. It would seem that my student found a way to complete his life project or a perversion of it if what this document reveals." he murmured with a hate and regret in his voice.

"Life project?" Naruto asked curiously.

The Hokage sighed. "What do you know of my former student, Naruto-kun?" he asked the blonde inventor.

Naruto shrugged. "Aside from what the Bingo Book had on him and from the stories I got from Anko, not much to be honest."

"I see. Let me tell you then. You see, Naruto-kun, the reason why Orochimaru went into human experiments and his growing obsession of it was because of his parents. One day, when Orochimaru and I visited his parent's grave, we found a white snake on their tombstone. I told him of a myth that a white snake symbolized immortality. I don't know what happened but that sparked his interest in immortality, thus his life project in finding a way to achieve it. From the results of your studies on the Cursed Seal of Heaven, we can safely deduce that the version of immortality Orochimaru developed is to possess bodies, more specifically, those he infected with his Cursed Seal."

"Body swapping as a form of immortality?" Naruto asked with some disgust. "That has to be the most cumbersome way to gain it. If I was in his shoes, I would look into preserving my life or achieving a form of heightened regenerative factor to live forever not that I'm contemplating it of course. Really, immortality is overrated. I have no intentions of living forever since that would be very boring."

"I'm glad that you thought that way, my boy." Sarutobi said with pride shining in his eyes. "That is the difference between you and my former student. Despite the fact that both of you became inventors, successful ones I might add, you are more focused in helping than furthering your own goals."

Naruto blushed at the praise, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment making the old man chuckle. "Well, I do have my own goals, jiji, but I share my inventions to the world in hopes of making Konoha a better place to live. Sure I make weapons but I don't do them for war, I do them to ensure that our shinobi come back in one piece."

"That you do, my boy, that you do." said the old man with a chuckle. "Anyway, the reason I came here was to inform you of the Chuunin Exams in four months."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Chuunin Exams? You want me to take it, I presume?"

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes. There are two ways for you to achieve the rank of Chuunin. One is to take the exam with a team and the other is to be promoted on the field. Field Promotion is mostly reserved in times of war or a crisis, something that we thankfully don't have. Because of this, the only way for you to advance in rank is to take the Chuunin Exams."

"Interesting." Naruto said as he rubbed his chin, noting some stubble. He made a mental note to buy a razor. "Earning Chuunin is definitely something to look forward to. However, I don't think I can join. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Chuunin Exams require a full team to participate and require a Jounin sensei to recommend said team. Both I don't have both at the moment." he pointed to the Hokage who smirked.

"Technically, you HAVE a Jounin sensei. Since I am the one who gave you your position as head of the ANBU Research and Development Division, I am technically your Jounin sensei."

"Nice loophole." Naruto said with some admiration. "And the team?"

"Well, you already have one. All we need is another which I have an idea as to who it would be but it would need a bit of your help to make it happen."

"Oh? Who are they?" Naruto asked with intense curiosity.

"The first is Haku. Since he is technically a Genin being without a village to give him a rank, I can easily sign him up as one. The second is an ongoing problem that we handled badly a long time ago. Tell me; are you familiar with the Kurama Clan?"

"Kurama Clan? Isn't that the clan well-known for creating illusions that affects reality?" Naruto asked after remembering a reference on the clan from the many history books he read during his free time and studies.

"Correct, roughly six years ago a few months after the Uchiha Massacre, the Kurama Clan gave birth to a girl named Kurama Yakumo. She was a prodigy in genjutsu and the Kurama clan's bloodline limit. However, something happened that forced her evil personality to resurface, forcing me seal her powers for the good of the village. Now, considering that you're the current Sealing Expert in the village, I was hoping that you have a method to completely seal this evil personality of hers so that she could safely use her bloodline limit without problems."

"Really? Now that is an interesting turn of events." Naruto said with a smirk. "Tell me, old man; is this…evil personality along the line of a curse?"

The Sandaime thought for a bit before answering. "Hm, since you put it that way, I think you can say that it is a curse since those who are quite gifted with their bloodline tend to have an evil personality coupled with their weak physical health closing the avenue of them ever becoming shinobi."

"Ah, if that is the case then I think I have the method to help her." said Naruto as he punched a few keys on his keyboard before turning the monitor facing the Hokage who read the information displayed there. A smirk crossed his face before turning into a full blown laugh.

"You are definitely one of a kind, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said with a huge grin mimicked by the blonde. "You solved the problem in a minute that took Jiraiya countless of months without even finding a solution. You are definitely a prodigy in the Sealing Arts."

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Naruto said with a smirk, not bothering to tell his surrogate grandfather that he didn't came up with the seal to fix Yakumo's problem. Well, technically, he did since the seal was an Uzumaki Clan creation.

"When can you apply the seal on Yakumo and can you find a way to counter her disability?" the Sandaime asked with some enthusiasm.

Naruto frowned. "I just need to practice with the array a bit until I can do it in my sleep, other than that, we can proceed with the sealing anytime once I mastered it. Regarding her disability, I think a few of my spells can help her out but I don't know if it will work."

The Hokage shrugged. "Well, there's no harm in trying. I'll send her your way in a week if that is alright with you."

Naruto nodded. "A week is fine, jiji. I am a bit busy this week since I am finalizing some details on Crucifix before I can test it."

"Crucifix? You completed it?" the aged leader exclaimed, shocked. He read the details on the heavy-duty weapon Naruto was working on and he couldn't help but be scared and amazed at what the boy was able to cook up on his own. As far as he knew, the project was still far away from being completed. The boy was definitely a miracle worker.

"Not completed but I'm getting there. I just need to solve the upgrade on the chakra transformation and storage matrices then I'm good to go. I'll be done in a few days since my clones are working on it right now." Naruto said with a grin, enjoying the look on the man's face.

"Good. Please keep me informed on that project. I want to see it in action if you're going to test it."

"Will do, jiji." Naruto agreed before the two of them talked over random things for a few hours before heading to bed.

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**End of Chapter 2**

**Please leave a comment or a review. **

**If you have any ideas or suggestion regarding Naruto's inventions, feel free to send me a PM. It would be much appreciated. (Don't send it as a review)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Rant:**

**Thank you for the reviews and PMs. Flamers are not welcome, except those that are constructive that pointed out certain flaws in the story. However, flames that merely states that you don't like the story, won't be reading anymore, and slip in a few derogatory remarks - definitely a waste of time and review. If you don't like it then don't read it. This is fan-fiction after all so anything goes. **

**I think I ranted enough. Enjoy the story. **

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**Guidelines for suggestion inventions:**

**1. I accept invention ideas that are viable with the current technology Naruto has developed. Keep in mind that Sephiroth is a fighter, not a scholar, but he had education along that line. Naruto IS an inventor and based his many inventions and experiments on Sephiroth's memories. **

**2. When suggesting inventions, make sure you add a brief explanation on how it is going to be invented (using Naruto's variation) and how it works. **

**That's it for now. I'll add to this when I think of something. ^_^**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Final Fantasy 7, or any works that this story might be hitting along the way. Give credit to where credit is due. **

_**Summary: **__Naruto suffered an accident that caused memories of his past life to slowly resurface in his mind. As he grew, he integrates the personality, memories, and abilities of the One-Winged Angel - Sephiroth. Enemies beware! Sephiroth-like Naruto. Inventor-Naruto Strong Naruto. Intelligent-Naruto. Minimal Bashing if possible. Slight AU but mostly similar to canon as the story goes. MASS CROSSOVER WARNING! _

Naruto was quite excited of joining the Chuunin Exams in the coming months. Sure, he was vying for the rank upgrade but he was more excited in satiating his lust for battle with the different shinobi from other villages. He wasn't concerned that they were Genins but the idea of fighting someone with different or unique abilities appealed to him. He chalked it up to his inventor side and Sephiroth's memories, blending together to form a personality that was uniquely Naruto's own. He loved to fight and discover new things – two birds with one stone. This was the real him.

He easily sealed Ido, Yakumo's negative personality, with the _Five Point Evil Sealing Method_, but there was a side-effect he didn't expect.

Instead of completely sealing Yakumo's negative personality, the sealing matrix combined both personalities to something totally new. This result was a different Yakumo with a totally new personality – flirty, an epitome of posture and poise, seductive, loves lollipops with a passion, and had a thing for leather outfits that was too tight for Naruto's taste. It bothered him a bit that Yakumo was practically a lollicon in the making but he didn't want to get on her bad side. He might be powerful but there was just something about Yakumo's bloodline that made him fear her a bit.

No, her being a lollicon can be easily overlooked since she actually had the looks that would make other lollis drool with envy.

Back to the girl's rehabilitation, Yakumo's physical disability was easily remedied by a combination of three spells – _Remedy_ to remove the virus, yes a virus, from her system that eats away at her muscles that hinders its improvement; a _Curaga_ to rejuvenate her body, and a _Regen_ that had to be maintained for a month to keep her health at peak efficiency while her body countered her weakened muscles, and couple that with a steady diet of healthy meals courtesy of Haku, she was on her way toward recovery in time for the Chuunin Exams with plenty to spare for training thrown in for good measure.

While her body healed, Zabuza was conscripted to give Yakumo a crash course in the shinobi arts. She had no problems with taijutsu since she spent five years either painting or watching her clansmen practice their family taijutsu style. She did what she could but her physical disability hindered her improvement so she ended up memorizing the stances and nothing else. This was the first thing she practiced when her body completely healed with Naruto cheering her on since he wanted to _really_ see her in action because her family's taijutsu style involved acrobatic dodging and quick strikes. It was something he looked forward to documenting if Yakumo gave him her permission.

Naruto didn't know why but Yakumo reminded him so much of Cloud's two friends – Tifa Lockheart and Yuffie, a perfect blending of their fighting style.

In terms of ninjutsu, Yakumo didn't have the chakra reserves to pull it off except for the basics. This was the reason why the Kurama Clan focused on genjutsu since not only were they genetically predisposed towards illusions; they had small chakra reserves to make ninjutsu almost nonexistent in their arsenal. Naruto did give her some books on genjutsu from his personal collection to help her along with her natural abilities which she gladly accepted.

Another important earmark to Yakumo's improvement in the shinobi arts were the inclusion of weapons that Naruto recently completed - guns. Unlike regular guns commonly used by Shinra forces, these guns were modified to fire bullets made of solidified chakra.

Naruto was dumbfounded when Yakumo tried her hand at the weapon upon their completion. The girl was an excellent marksman and was already contemplating combining her taijutsu style with said weapons. After a month of practice and experimentations, Naruto could safely say that Yakumo was a force to be reckoned with, that and the fact that she took a liking to wearing black leather outfit that hugged her frame. She was still young and her...assets were still developing but the curves she had, though undeveloped, gave testament to how she would turn into a bombshell in the future. Zabuza definitely liked what he was seeing if the blood seeping out of his nose was an indication, though he made a special point not to show such perversion in front of Yakumo since the first time he did that, he was almost riddled full of holes with chakra bullets since the girl was practicing with four guns at that time, a pair on her hands with another pair attached to her stilettos with seals.

With Yakumo ready to become a Genin and the Chuunin Exams, Naruto allocated three hours a day for team training with Zabuza keeping watch to point out problems that needs to be addressed. Kakashi joined them from time to time to get his skills back but they were a long time coming since he couldn't let go of his team, no matter much he wanted to do so.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto finished grafting the seals inside Crucifix's framework before flipping a switch on the console that activated various mechanical hands to hold the heavy metal in place while a tube poked out on the side to weld it together. He sighed as he set aside his grafting tools before wiping the sweat off his face. It was a gruelling eight hours of work grafting the seals while taking it slow to make sure that there were no problems in their creation. One mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences that made him shiver since he was dealing with complex seal matrices.

All that was left was to assemble the different parts together and his first heavy-arms prototype was good to go for a test run.

The blonde inventor was thankful that he started small with the project through the creation of Chakra Guns that Yakumo was now using as her primary weapon, or in her case, weapons. The guns were a modification to the ones Vincent Valentine used. Instead of bullets, these guns absorbs a tiny amount of the user's chakra, amplifies and compresses them before firing out of the barrel using another set of seals on the trigger and piston. The condensed ball of chakra was capable of piercing the target depending on how hard the surface would be - a civilian would be full of holes; a shinobi would suffer some wounds because of the increased defence thanks to the chakra circulating in their bodies, while those with defensive bloodline might be able to avoid one or both effects.

That was with neutral chakra alone. What effects would it result to if elemental chakra was channelled into the guns? The thought made Naruto giddy. He made a mental note to test Yakumo to find out what her natural element was. He added another note to that note to find out what HIS affinity was since he didn't have such training under his belt.

All in all, the Chakra Guns were a success and the first four were given to Yakumo as part of her arsenal and her membership into Team Shinra and Project Black Leaf. She was still experimenting with them a bit to see what they were capable off and the data he collected looked promising. He instinctively knew that Yakumo would bring out the gun's full potential if she had anything to say about it.

"How long will it take to assemble Crucifix, Kuroto?" Naruto asked as he made his way to the corner where a cooler was located. He definitely needed a drink after working on Crucifix's seal matrix for eight hours straight. He could have assigned a clone for the job but it wouldn't be the same. He made a special point to work on the prototypes himself while the clones were for production, testing, and research. He chalked it to an inventor's pride.

"**Completion time is 23 hours and 35 minutes, Naruto-sama. The progress would have been faster if you took the time to finish the manufacturing station underneath your apartment complex."**

"Damn. I knew designing that thing with so many parts would bite me in the ass. Fine, I'll make a special point to finalize the production system underneath the apartment. Set a schedule for the requisition of the items and make an inventory of everything we have so I know which ones to get." Naruto grumbled. He could have made Crucifix into a single-purpose weapon but his ego got in the way so he practically turned the thing into a one-man-army in terms of weaponry, that and the fact that he procrastinated in the expansion of his laboratory and work area underneath his apartment. "What's the status of the three projects in priority?"

"**Still analyzing and breaking down the blood sample you took from subject Mitarashi Anko. No estimated time of completion since the enzyme is resisting almost all forms of analysis. However, we are successful in separating the enzymes from the blood so the project is underway."** Kuroto reported with Naruto nodding as he took a sip of the bitter iced coffee he liked so much. The beverage was his first foray into integrating Sephiroth's favourite into Konoha's market. Who knew that shinobi would take a liking to it? He was currently earning quite a sum from that alone.

"Good. We are not in a hurry so keep at it at normal pace. No need to allocate additional resources considering Anko-san has that thing on her for more than a decade. I don't think a few months would make a difference." Naruto said with a shrug.

"**Will do, Naruto-sama. The Barrier Upgrade is still under study. One of the clones informed me to tell you that they needed a fresh batch of chakra metals."**

"Huh? Why in the world do they need chakra metals for? The last memory transfer I got from a clone working on that project involved making chakra into a solid construct." Naruto asked with some confusion. Granted the last time he dispelled the clones on that project was two days ago so it was quite possible that this batch made a few discoveries he didn't know about. They weren't scheduled to be dispelled for three more days.

"**Should I tell one of them to dispel, Naruto-sama?" **

"Yes please." said Naruto as he relaxed his mind to prepare for the memory transfer from his clones. It was a few seconds later that the clone's memories entered his consciousness. The blonde couldn't help but admire the clone's more radical idea in using chakra metal as a conductor and amplifier to increase chakra potency. They theorized that since the barrier was already using chakra, it might be possible to solidify it if the energy output was increased. With that said, they needed chakra metals since the sealing array for the barriers weren't strong enough to handle such a large amount of chakra. The metal would provide a solid foundation to make it work...if it works. "I see. Could you please forward a memo to Hokage-ji-sama citing a request for a Genin team to acquire a ton of chakra metals to be delivered to my compound? I'm not sure if Tenten's shop has that much in stock so jiji might need to dispatch a team to Tetsu no Kuni to acquire it in bulk. Oh, make an additional note to that to buy an extra ton or two just in case we need more for experimentation or production."

"**As you wish, Naruto-sama."**

"Thank you, Kuroto. Any news on Project Dragoon?"

"**The Dragoon is currently at 75%. The frame and durability seals were completed yesterday. The clones you assigned on the project are now grafting the **_**Float Matrix**_** onto the shell before testing it."**

The Dragoon was the name given to the modified airship approved by the Hokage. After months of thousands of clones, they finally completed the combination of seals that now formed the completed array called the _Float Matrix_ – a combination of more than a dozen seals to absorb and convert the ambient chakra in the air, amplify it, float the construct it is applied to, and a steering mechanism to give it direction. In other words, as the name dictates, the _Float Matrix_ was a series of seals to make things fly. Speed was still an issue since the matrix wasn't tested on a full-scale model but they could hopefully test it soon with the first prototype.

Besides, the initial test of the _Float Matrix_ on the hover board allowed greater speed if chakra was channelled directly. It was quite possible for the Dragoon to achieve such a speed if the battery has enough power to sustain it.

"Nice. If we're lucky then we can unveil it during the Chuunin Exams in two months time, maybe earlier if we're lucky. We can practically use its maiden voyage to transport dignitaries from other villages. Inform the clones to take time with the project. If they need more manpower then get back to me immediately so I can make more." Naruto informed his AI as he made his way to his laboratory. "Any updates on the teams Hokage-jiji sent out?"

"**Out of the twelve teams dispatched, only three of them were successful in finding their targets while others reported the leads they found and still in search."**

"Who?" Naruto asked excitedly as went to his workstation and pulled up the reports from the recruitment teams.

"**Urahara Kisuke of Yugakure, Tessai of Yugakure, and Takani Megumi of Kusagakure."**

Naruto smirked as he read the reports from the teams the Sandaime sent out to find certain rogue shinobi and offer them a job in his department. The advisors didn't have any problems with these individuals since their crime records weren't that severe to merit elimination. Danzo wisely withdrew from the discussion since they had blackmail material on him. In fact, most of them were more along the line of scientists rather than fighters though Naruto knew that these individual were formidable since they would be dead already for being in the Bingo Book.

The first was Urahara Kisuke. The man was known to conduct various experiments in utilizing the spiritual aspect of chakra, calling it _Reiryoku_. The reason why he was banished from the village was the 'supposed' experiments on humans for research. Naruto knew that reports were oftentimes modified to suit the reason of the individual, or in this case, the village of Yugakure. Naruto theorized that Urahara was banished because Yugakure was no longer a shinobi village, more along the line of a business locale if nothing else which merited its rise in the economic and financial ladder.

Tessai was Urahara Kisuke's assistant, an expert in Urahara's studies as he devised various techniques for _Reiryoku_. His banishment was also attributed to Urahara's experiment.

The last was Takani Megumi of Kusagakure, a prodigy and expert on medicinal plants. She was marked as a rogue shinobi due to her running away from Kusagakure when she was forced to produce certain plant-based poisons that could wipe out an entire village. She rebelled and ran away. Due to her medical knowledge, she was branded as an A-rank rogue shinobi.

Naruto definitely wanted them on his payroll considering the knowledge they possessed in their respective fields.

The blonde's smirk turned into a grin when he saw the reports from the shinobi who found them. All three were now being escorted to the village and would be arriving in two days time. Thankfully, all agreed to hear him out instead of rejecting his offer. He activated the GPS system and found the position of the three groups. They were now in Hi no Kuni, taking a direct route to Konoha.

Naruto exited his office and to one of the spare testing chambers to prepare for a welcoming surprise for his guests. After all, if he wanted them to take him seriously then he needed to show them what he was capable of.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Urahara Kisuke looked at the gates of Konoha with different emotions churning inside him. He was usually a fun-loving guy, loves experimenting, but a vicious fighter when crossed. However, the sight of the large wooden gates of Konohagakure no Sato made him a bit nervous.

The reason why he was being escorted to the village was his curiosity regarding an offer given to him and to his partner, Tessai. An opportunity presented to them by the head of the ANBU Research and Development Division, one named Uzumaki Naruto. He interviewed the Jounin who found him deep inside Swamp Country and couldn't help but be amazed that a 14 year old Genin was able to invent technology that could turn Konoha into a powerhouse. Of course, being the inventor he was, he immediately grabbed the opportunity to meet this amazing young man that may eventually become his employer if he answered his questions right.

Yes, he and Tessai didn't accept outright, opting instead to talk to the person who offered the opportunity to them to find out what he really wanted. In truth, he didn't want to invent things for war and most people in the higher ups were a greedy bunch. This was the reason why he and Tessai ran away from Yugakure in the first place. Of course, Yugakure made it look like they were banished to put them in good light towards their business partners; however, the truth of the matter was them running away because the village leaders, the council of advisors, were planning to use his discoveries to create weapons to subjugate other villages.

Sure, they were making it look like they were no longer a Hidden Village but behind the tradesman facade, warmongers the lot of them.

He turned to the right when he heard another group flanking them. What he saw made him raise an eyebrow before a grin crossed his face.

"Takani Megumi-chan. How delightfully charming to see you again, my dear. You are still a beauty even after all these years. " Kisuke swooned causing Tessai to roll his eyes behind his ever present sunglasses, his moustache twitching in irritation.

"_Here we go again."_ Tessai thought, making a face that made the Konoha shinobi look at him curiously. He shook his head before tilting his head towards Kisuke and Megumi.

A woman clad in purple kimono with long dark hair huffed while giving Urahara an evil eye.

"Urahara Kisuke. Still looking stupid in that geta-sandal-bucket-hat outfit you still wear. Even the fan thing is getting old. It has been five years now and still no fashion sense whatsoever." Megumi snarled while resisting the urge to shove her most potent poison down the man's throat.

"I'm hurt, Megumi-chan. You still haven't forgiven me from the last time we met. Really, it was an accident!" Kisuke whined while making exaggerating movements with his hands.

Megumi scoffed. "Sure, it was an accident that you led five Hunter teams from Kusa into my secret hideout. If it weren't for my traps, I would be dead by now." she growled at the man who gave a nervous chuckle.

"And ingenious traps they were too." Kisuke said with amazement. "I never knew you could use medicinal plants like that. They died a horrible death you know. I swear I saw one of them melt before my very eyes after they inhaled those green mists your traps produced."

"As if I care." Megumi shrugged. They were Hunter shinobi after her head. She really didn't care HOW they died as long as they didn't pester her.

"Still as cold hearted as ever, Megumi-chan." Kisuke said with a look of respect on his face before grinning lecherously at her. "I can thaw it out for you with my unique brand of tender loving care. What do you say?"

"Call me –chan one more time, I'll shove one of my poisons down your throat." she growled, pulling out a capsule-like item from one of her hidden pockets in her sleeves.

Genma decided to stop the two before they do something they would regret. Knowing how infamous these two were, they might not get back to the village and complete their mission in one piece.

"Takani-san, Urahara-san, Tessai-san. We have arrived. I'll just register your entrance then we can proceed to our destination." Genma informed the group who, thankfully, stopped bickering, well, two of them anyway. Tessai just stood behind the group with his eyes and moustache twitching in irritation. Genma turned to the Immortal Chuunins – Izumo and Kotetsu - at the gate to register the completion of their mission, as well as logging in the identity of their 'guests'. With that done, he pulled out a small box-like object from his vest and flipped it open. He pressed a few numbers before punching the green button causing said item to produce a ringing sound. The three 'guests' looked at Genma and the item curiously though they were shocked when they heard a voice from the thing.

"_**Uzumaki Naruto, how can I help you?"**_

"Uzumaki-sama, your _guests_ have arrived." Genma reported with a smirk.

"_**Genma?"**_

"Hai, Uzumaki-sama."

"_**How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Uzumaki-sama. Naruto or Naruto-san is fine."**_

"This would be the twenty-fifth time, Uzumaki-sama. Wait, make that twenty six."

"_**I shouldn't have given you a senbon launcher. I don't know why I did it in the first place."**_

"Come now, Uzumaki-sama. It's only right that we give our respect to Konoha's leading inventor."

"_**Har har har. Very funny, Genma. Anyway, I already cleared it up with Hokage-oji-sama. Please escort my guests to my apartment. I'll be there to take them to HQ myself."**_

"Right away, Uzumaki-sama."

"_**I hate you, you know that right?"**_

"I love you too. Bye, hun."

"_**Arrrrrrgh!" **_

Genma snickered before ending the call. He really loved to rile the kid up. He turned to the group to see the 'guests' looking at him and the phone he was holding in shock. "Yes?"

"Is there a...spirit trapped in that box?" Kisuke asked with interest while eyeing the phone.

Genma smiled as he showed them the item they were staring at. "Actually, this is one of Uzumaki Naruto's inventions. He calls it a cellphone or something like that. I really don't know where he gets the names for these things." He added the last part with a shake of his head.

"So...this Uzumaki Naruto is inventing items for the military? Like weapons?" Megumi asked seriously.

"Well, you could say that, but to be honest, he just improves the ones we already have. This cellphone, for example, can be considered an upgrade from the usual ear-piece ANBU wears. I can't really tell you all about them." Genma admitted. "If you want details on his experiment then you might want to direct them to Uzumaki-sama."

"You mentioned that Uzumaki is a fourteen year old, right? Why do you address him as such?" Tessai asked curiously.

Genma smiled. "Wouldn't you do the same to someone who does his best to make your lives better by invents things that can practically save you in a pinch?" he asked rhetorically causing the trio to nod in agreement.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was standing in the middle of the expansive grounds of his apartment complex as he watched the group make their way towards him. Genma stopped in front of him and gave a short bow.

"Mission complete, Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto glared at the man before sighing. "Thank you, Genma. I already informed oji-sama of the mission's success. You can go directly to his office from here for a debriefing and pay."

Genma gave him a two finger salute before exiting the ground in a puff of smoke and leaves.

Naruto turned the trio with a smile on his face.

"Welcome to Konoha, Urahara-san, Tessai-san, Takani-san."

"Glad to be here, Uzumaki-san." said Kisuki with a small bow mimicked by Megumi and Tessai. "Maybe we can go directly to the business at hand and hear your proposal?"

"Agreed. However, we need to go to HQ since there are plenty of unwanted ears about that might be listening to our conversation." Naruto said, nodding to trees on his left. The trio gave the direction a glance before nodding in agreement. Naruto pulled out a small device from his pocket and pressed a few buttons causing a large contraption behind him to materialize.

"What is that?" Megumi asked with surprise as the thing materialized behind their host.

Naruto smiled as he waved a hand towards the machine, a modified limousine that he pirated from Rufus Shinra's many collections. It was modified since instead of wheels, the thing was powered by his already-tested _Float Matrix_. "This is what I call a car, one of my many inventions. It is a transportation device powered by chakra." he explained while pressing a few more buttons causing the doors to open. "Please get in so we can make our way to HQ for the interview. I know it's going to be an experience for the four of us." said Naruto as he entered the limo first followed by the three curious guests.

After making themselves comfortable, Naruto pressed a few buttons on the console on his seat causing the doors to close before taking off to the skies at moderate speed. He also activated the illusion seal that mimicked the cloaking device Shinra employed on their many war machines. He resorted to using seals since he didn't know how cloaking technology worked nor does he have the technical know-how to produce one.

Megumi felt her stomach drop at the sudden change in altitude. "Are we flying?" she asked before looking out the window. "We are really flying. This is amazing!"

"Thank you." Naruto said with bit of pride. He punched the coordinates for the HQ since he didn't want to drive the thing there. "This is just of the many inventions my department produced."

"You are definitely an interesting young man, Uzumaki-san." Kisuke said with respect.

"Please, call me Naruto. We are all friends here, and if you accept my offer, co-workers." Naruto said to the group. "You might want to relax. We will be at HQ shortly and all your questions will be answered there."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto brought his guests to the conference room in ANBU HQ since it was the only place they could talk in total privacy. He could have done this at his apartment complex but it was totally unethical since he wanted to set the mood for a business relationship. He wanted to indirectly tell his guests that this was purely business and nothing personal. He sat himself at the head of the long table while beckoning for the tree to sit anywhere they liked. Kisuke and Tessai sat themselves on his right while Megumi sat to his left.

"Before we begin, I would like to thank all of you for accepting my invitation. I know you're curious as to why I invited you over despite your...reputation as rogue shinobi. Let me make this clear, I didn't bring you here to make a quick ryo but a potential working relationship that would benefit us all in the long run." Naruto started with a smile. "Can I interest you three in some refreshments? Lunch perhaps?"

The trio shook their heads since they want to get down to business to see if they wanted to join or not. If it's the latter then they want to leave as soon as possible since they were very open to anyone who wanted to apprehend them. Sure, they could take care of themselves but it was a hassle to do so.

"Thank you for the offer, Naruto-san, but can we get down to business?" Tessai asked, not really comfortable being in an enclosed space.

"Of course." Naruto nodded as he pulled out a data pad from his pocket and pressed a few buttons. A large screen on the wall behind him came to life showing the details of Project Black Leaf, as well as information of the three guests in the room. Naruto noticed that the three were shocked at how detailed the information was. "The screen behind me holds the information of my department which I dubbed as Project Black Leaf. It is a Research and Development Division attached to Konoha's ANBU under the full backing of the Sandaime Hokage. The scope of the division is to research, experiment, and invent for the betterment of the village. In order for division to achieve its goals, I needed people of similar minds with different specialization to assist me. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato, and dubbed as Konoha's Inventor. I specialize in the Sealing Arts and weapons development, as well as other advancements dealing with machines."

Naruto pressed a few more buttons on his data pad causing Takani Megumi's information to expand on the screen.

"Now, let's discuss why I chose the three of you. First, Takani Megumi, a rogue shinobi of Kusagakure. Takani-san is famous for her knowledge and application of medical plants and herbs for medicine and poisons. My purpose in hiring you is to take charge of the Medical Division of Project Black Leaf. Your job is to create potions and elixirs to help both civilians and shinobi in the village. It is also in your job description to analyze poisons and come up with antidotes for them." Naruto stated, looking at Megumi who was reading the information on the screen with slight amusement.

"You definitely did your research, Naruto-san." Megumi said seriously while locking her brown eyes with Naruto's blue. "However, let me ask you this, is this _purely_ for medical purpose or will you be asking me to create poisons to be used in the field?"

Naruto shook his head, understanding what the woman beside him was trying to say. "No, Megumi-san. What you see on the screen is the scope of your job description. Your main responsibility is to develop medicines to be used for healthcare. The subject of poisons will only come up if it needs to be analyzed for a working antidotes, saving lives in the process. Besides, you have the right to deny any projects assigned to you if it's against your morals."

Megumi nodded, satisfied with what she heard. "And in regards to payment?"

"Like me, you will be paid for every successful research or invention. For example, if you made a medicine, let's say a universal remedy for ALL poisons then you will be given an S-rank mission pay for it. Other than that, you will be given a monthly stipend, an allowance if you will, for personal use. Lodging is also provided in my apartment unless you want to live somewhere else." Naruto informed her. "The Sandaime Hokage offered a slew of residential complex if you chose the latter. As I said earlier, you are not a prisoner here in Konoha. You are free to go anywhere that is not restricted and live in the village peacefully without worries."

"Quite generous if this is what I will be getting for my work. Tell me, considering the amount of money involved, how the Hokage will be able to afford all this?" she asked with a dainty eyebrow raised.

"Easy. The inventions will be sold to the public, of course, after going through a thorough study on how it would affect the economy and the safety of the village. As with the example, the universal remedy will be sold to the public with the proceeds going to the village coffers while a percentage of that will be diverted to Project Black Leaf to keep it afloat. To summarize, you are paid for the discovery, the village will pay for mass production, and sold to the public. All proceeds will be added to the village coffers with a percentage going to us to fund projects and the stipends allocated to us every month."

"Ah. I'm surprised that such a group is effective despite the limited number of personnel." Megumi nodded. "No more questions for now, Naruto-san."

"Then let's proceed." The screen shifted to reveal Tessai and Kisuke's information. "Urahara Kisuke and Tessai are both into the study of _Reiryoku_, a name they dubbed the spiritual component of chakra. From what I heard through the grapevine, both of you were able to create techniques totally different from shinobi jutsu. The reason why I hired the both of you is to help me study chakra down to its base form. I am currently looking for a certain rogue shinobi that only used physical energy and like you, he called it _Chi_. You two will be working alongside this person to research these energies and how it could be used by shinobi and civilians, and possibly, harness both energies for the good of Konoha."

"Can you give me an example like what you gave Megumi-chan?" asked Kisuke, totally ignoring the glare being levelled at him by said person.

Naruto chuckled in amusement. "Of course." he agreed before putting a shinobi on the screen. "This is Rock Lee, a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato, and a part of Team 9 under Maito Gai. He has a disability that hindered him from using chakra. He has physical energy in spades, making him a taijutsu specialist. But from what I gathered of his condition, there is something in him that stops him from accessing the spiritual energy in his body. As we all know, all human beings are born with physical and spiritual energy that makes us tick. Shinobi are trained to combine these two energies to form chakra. Rock Lee can't use the spiritual component of his body to form the basis of shinobi techniques. This is where you two come in." he explained to the two who were reading the information on the screen but listening intently to his words. "One of your jobs is to study why this happened and look for a solution. While doing this, you are free to conduct any experiment you want since I don't like to restrict knowledge from growing." He turned to Megumi. "This also applies to you, Megumi-san. You are free to use the resources you are given to further your studies. The sky is the limit. You can even commission me for any technology that you might need. The only restriction to this rule is when you are given a project by me or the Sandaime that takes priority."

"I see." said Kisuke who turned to Tessai who nodded. "Then I would be more than happy to join Project Black Leaf, Naruto-san."

"It is a pleasure to be working with you, Naruto-san." said Tessai in his deep voice.

"Thank you." Naruto said happily before turning to Megumi. "And you Megumi-san?"

"I'll join but," started Megumi, looking at Naruto seriously. "Considering this is an organization, I presume you have a failsafe prepared just in case someone decides to renege on the contract?"

"Smart and beautiful. Quite a deadly combination" Naruto praised the woman who just scoffed though there was a slight tinge of a blush on her cheek making him chuckle. "Yes, I do have a failsafe." The screen changed to reveal the logo of Project Black Leaf. "This is a standard tattoo for members of Project Black Leaf. Division Heads, like you and Kisuke-san, and other members are required to wear it." He raised a hand and showed him the back of his palm that sported the same tattoo. "This is one of my creations which I don't have a name yet. In truth, this is a seal matrix that incorporates three different functions. The first function is a tracking and diagnostic seal that would monitor your health, making it easy for us to see to your needs. This is very important since, as inventors, we lead a very dangerous life. I will tell you later how this is monitored."

"The second function of the seal is a hybrid storage seal of my design. It will allow you to store unlimited number of items of a certain size. It is advised that you store all your research notes and important documents on this seal since this will be attuned to you through your blood, which will be the ink used to apply and activate it. Meaning, no one can access it other than you. Finally, the failsafe is a mind-wipe sealing array. If a betrayal occurs, we can immediately turn it on that would wipe out anything related to Project Black Leaf. I should know since I tried it out on a shadow clone." Naruto said with a grin before wincing. "I practically suffered a migraine for three days thanks to that."

"Is there anything else we need to know about this...tattoo?" Megumi asked suspiciously.

"No. I am very honest in this regard since I want this relationship to work. I value knowledge above anything else but I don't want this knowledge to harm my village in any way. I hope you understand what I'm getting at."

The trio was silent, pondering Naruto's words before all three nodded. In their own way, they deduced that their 'boss' was honest in his statement with no hint of malice or deceit.

"So the failsafe will only be activated, if and only if, we betray the organization?" Kisuke asked curiously.

"That and if you decide that you want to resign." Naruto said with a smirk. "Considering who I'm talking to, I am sure that all of you are already thinking of means to safeguard the information of your research just in case the seal activates. I respect that since I also have safeguards of my own. However, if the information of your safeguards is directly connected to Black Leaf then it would be wiped out as well. Anything personal is safe."

"Definitely a genius in seals." Tessai murmured before raising his voice a bit. "So, Naruto-san, care to tell me how you were able to acquire detailed information about us and our work?"

"Well, since you asked nicely, I will tell you. Jiraiya of the Sannin through the Hokage provided your individual information. From what I can tell, the man has a very long reach, if you know what I mean." Naruto answered with a grin.

"Ah, Jiraiya. No wonder you are well informed, Naruto-san." Megumi said while making a face. Remembering the time he met the pervert of a Toad Sage and made a pass at her. "A perverted spymaster."

"That he is." Naruto chuckled. "Anyway, let me continue. Your workplace is not in this building. You will be stationed in an underground complex underneath the apartment we left from earlier. Each of you will be given an office, a work area, and direct access to Kuroto. If you need helpers, give me names and I will see if I can hire them after a thorough background check. You are also free to take apprentices but it should be approved by both me and the Sandaime Hokage for safety reasons."

"Kuroto?" asked Megumi.

"**You called, Takani-sama?"**

"What in Kami's jiggling asset was that?" she screamed in surprise causing Tessai and Kisuki to snicker while Naruto merely looked at her in amusement.

"That was the first time Kuroto garnered such a response." Naruto said. "To answer your question, Kuroto is an artificial intelligence of my own making. He controls all the machines and computer system in this complex and the underground laboratory. Kuroto will also monitor your health through the seal and will immediately report if you are in need of help. If you have any questions or require assistance, please simply call Kuroto and he will answer. I will provide you with your own computer terminal with direct access to Kuroto's server for the data sharing. I will also issue you one of these," Naruto raised his data pad "Since this will greatly help when you're on the move or far away from your computers. I will give you a week to get situated and you can ask Kuroto for information to help you use the machines effectively."

"Amazing." Kisuke said in amazement. "Glad to be working with you, Kuroto-kun."

"**Likewise, Urahara-sama."** said Kuroto**. "Naruto-sama, Hokage-sama requests you and your guest's presence in his office."**

"Well, I guess that takes care of the meeting." Naruto said as he stood up. "I will apply the Black Leaf tattoos later after our debriefing with the Hokage. On behalf of Konoha and Project Black Leaf, welcome aboard."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto spent the days before the Chuunin Exam helping the three new members of Black Leaf ease into their new position in the ANBU R&D, their respective roles in the organization, instructing them on the technology Naruto invented alongside Kuroto, and also, training with his team for the coming exam. He also received various request for new tech from Kisuke and Megumo – the former required a scanner to measure Reiryoku while the latter requested a microscope. Of course, Naruto had no problems with their request since the technology as familiar to him.

He assigned a few clones to work on their request while he busied himself with his projects and training. He knew that he was overusing his clones but he couldn't help it. They lacked the manpower so they needed to make do.

In truth, Naruto was very happy with the new people he was working with. In fact, he was no longer bored – shadow clones weren't really good conversationalist since it was like to himself. Besides, new people meant fresh ideas to thrown around with, leading to new possibilities.

Megumi settled quite nicely into her new position as head of the Medical Research Division of Black Leaf. She requested a budget allocation for a greenhouse where she would grow various plants and herbs for her experiments while dabbling a bit in experimenting new strains for better medicines and antidotes. Since the grounds behind the apartment complex were spacious, Naruto and the Sandaime approved her request and hired a construction crew to get the project started.

She almost hugged Naruto to death when the blonde told her that Kuroto compiled a complete encyclopaedia on all plants in the Elemental Nations courtesy of the research notes left by Senju Tsunade before she left the village with her assistant and pet.

Urahara Kisuke and Tessai were definitely enjoying their jobs with Kisuke as head of the Energy Research Division of Black Leaf with Tessai manning the sub-division in regards to use Kisuke's discoveries. The two made a special point in uploading all their research notes on _Reiryoku_ into Kuroto and gave Naruto and Megumi their blessings to have fun with their work. Of course, the two immediately spent hours interfaced with Kuroto through their respective terminals to check it out.

Naruto couldn't help but be amazed at the amount of time Kisuke and Tessai spent on their research and he couldn't help but be awed at the application of _Reiryoku_ Tessai devised with a few input from his partner. From what he could tell, _Reiryoku_ was similar to magic that they could perform certain techniques called spells, similar to his own but totally different. These spells were sorted into two categories – _Kido_ and _Bakudo_. _Kido_ was mostly used for offense while _Bakudo_, its counterpart, specialized in containment and defence. The two also included their training regiment to separate _Reiryoku_ and _Chi_ to use the former.

Naruto couldn't wait to get the other person into the team to complete the set. The possibilities of what these three could come up were endless.

Naruto also instructed the new members to spend time training since it was important as members of Black Leaf. In fact, the organization itself would be undergoing specialized mission per the Hokage's orders. The trio had no problems with that since they trained daily anyway. This time, they were doing it not because of self-preservation but to gain enough strength to better serve the Hokage and Black Leaf.

The trio also met Zabuza and Haku and enjoyed hours of sparring together, one-on-one or in teams. Since they were even, they formed two squads of three. One squad was Team Shinra composed of Naruto, Haku, and Yakumo. Team Spirit (Kisuke decided on the name much to Megumi's ire) was composed of Megumi, Kisuke, and Tessai. It was safe to say that Naruto had a whole new respect for the three after a few sparring sessions. Contrary to popular beliefs, despite being researchers and inventors, Kisuke, Tessai, and Megumi were adept in the shinobi arts with specialities of their own.

Urahara was a kenjutsu and Kido specialist – the front line fighter.

Tessai on taijutsu and Bakudo – he was the front line support because of his defensive and containment spells. It's not that Kisuke didn't know Bakudo but Tessai was more skilled with them.

Megumi was a long-range fighter similar to Haku but mostly used her vast repertoire of poisons to get the job done. Megumi revealed that all of her senbons were coated in different kinds of poisons and all of them were stored inside the Black Leaf tattoo for easy retrieval. It was safe to say that Megumi was the deadliest out of the three since most of her poisons were debilitating in nature.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was a week before the Chuunin Exams that Naruto finally finished Project Dragoon. They were now in the hangar underneath ANBU HQ that Naruto excavated for this purpose. He was accompanied by the Hokage, Homura and Koharu, ANBUs Neko and Tenzo, and the entirety of Black Leaf.

"This is amazing, Naruto-kun." the Hokage breathed out after finally finding his voice the first time he laid his eyes on the huge airship Naruto invented. "You said it was big but I didn't know it was this big."

(Refer to FF7's Highwind if you want a description)

"She's definitely a beauty, Hokage-ji-sama." Naruto said proudly. "The Dragoon is a transportation vehicle exclusively for Konoha use. I'm not sure if you're going to enlist her under the military but I suggest that you hold that thought since we don't want to look like we are preparing for war. As such, I created Dragoon to transport our shinobi as reinforcement or to safely escort dignitaries or Daimyos anywhere in the Elemental Nations...well, technical anywhere since I don't want to enter someone's airspace without permission. Imagine what Kumo would do if they suddenly find Highwind making its way to their village. It would be a disaster."

The Hokage nodded in agreement. A, the Yondaime Raikage, was a brute and followed the creed of 'fight first, ask questions later'.

"Are you sure she can fly?" Megumi asked with some disbelief in her voice. She couldn't put it in herself to belief that such a large chunk of metal could fly, much less lift itself off the ground. Sure, she was used to the hover board and Naruto's personal limo but the Dragoon was thirty times bigger.

"Of course, she does. How do you think she stays up there without any mooring wires to keep her up?" Naruto said dryly. He noticed the group were now discovering the lack of wires and ramps that kept the airship afloat. It was safe to say that they were shocked. "As you can see, Dragoon is _floating _on its own power. It is currently on hover-mode, staying a few feet off the ground to take in passengers."

"That it is." Kisuke said in awe. "How does she stay afloat or fly for that matter?"

"Ah, the secret to that is the _Float Matrix_ I created for this purpose. You see, the _Float Matrix_ absorbs ambient chakra at a rapid pace and stores them in a chakra storage array I invented. The stored energy is then funnelled to the actual float seals on the frame of the ship, making it float. Some of chakra are then amplified and converted into electricity using Raiton Chakra Converters and stored in a separate battery to be used for the turbines. This gives the airship a means to move, change direction, and speed up."

"Ingenious. Considering the amount of ambient chakra in the Elemental Nations, the airship can easily stay up forever if you want to." Tessai breathed out. "Definitely your best work yet, Naruto-san."

"Well, not necessarily on that level but you can say that." Naruto said modestly causing the Hokage to chuckle. "Well, let's go and check the interior out. I know you're going to be surprised. Besides, I assume you all want to be a part of its test flight." he told the group as he sent a signal to Kuroto who immediately opened up a ramp to accommodate the excited group of passengers.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"The Dragoon is a transport-only non-battle oriented airship commission by the Hokage for the sole purpose of transporting shinobi and their clients during high-class missions. Its assignment is an only-needed basis since we don't want our shinobi to be dependent on aerial travel. In most cases, the Dragoon will be used to transport high-ranking individuals, like daimyos, dignitaries, and ambassadors. The airship will also be used to ferry reinforcement to and from Konoha if speed is needed." Naruto explained to the group as they traversed the walkway towards the front of the ship that housed the controls. "The Dragoon can easily accommodate up to 50 passengers. There are 15 rooms in total, a currently-empty medical bay, a spacious room for high-profile individuals, and of course, the cockpit that serves as the heart of the airship."

"Amazing, Uzumaki." said Koharu while studying the metallic interior. "Who will be the ones to pilot this...airship?"

"We have no pilot at the moment but Kuroto can do so without problems." Naruto admitted as he led them to the airship's spacious cockpit. "However, I think it would be best if we train some pilots and engineers to keep her manned. Considering that Black Leaf is shorthanded at the moment, Kuroto will be piloting the Dragoon on any voyage the Hokage deemed her ready for."

"**Welcome to the Dragoon, Naruto-sama and guests."**

"Thank you, Kuroto. Have you run a diagnostic on the entire ship?"

"**I have, Naruto-sama. All systems are green. The **_**Float Matrix**_** is working properly. Chakra absorption is normal at 15% and keeping up with the drain of the ship currently in hover mode, the batteries are at 100% capacity and ready for high-altitude flight. Navigational system is operational with the GPS active and monitoring our location. I await your command."**

"Very good. Please record all functions for later review. The Dragoon will now initiate its test flight. Route will be from Konoha to Wave Country then return. Speed at average for the first 20 minutes of flight before gradually speeding up to maximum." Naruto commanded while looking out through the floor-to-ceiling window in front of them. "Open the hangar door and initiate test flight."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The citizens of Konoha were looking up as a foreboding shadow loomed over the village, both shinobi and civilians alike were sporting looks of disbelief, shock, fear, and awe as they watched the Dragoon appear from behind Naruto's apartment and slowly gaining altitude, taking to the skies.

Shinobi and civilians alike burst into cheer upon seeing the large Konoha symbol on the bottom and sides of the huge airship. The civilians couldn't believe that the village they were living in had such magnificence hidden away. The shinobi, however, were grinning like mad since they knew who created the masterpiece above them.

With the first flight of Dragoon into the skies of Konoha, the legend of one Uzumaki Naruto spread throughout the Elemental Nations.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Status report." commanded Naruto as he tried to tune out the cheer coming from the group behind him. He couldn't help but chuckle seeing adults smashing their faces on the reinforced glass to see the ground below and the skies around them.

"**She is currently at optimum performance, Naruto-sama. We are currently 10,000 feet above sea level maintaining a speed of 90 km/h. The current absorption rate is staying ahead of the drain on the batteries as the **_**Float Matrix**_** absorbs powers to keep the Dragoon afloat. Steering and navigation equipments are fully functional with no irregularities detected." **Kuroto reported.

"Nice." Naruto nodded proud of how his 'baby' was performing. The Dragoon was definitely living up to its predecessor, the Highwind, before it was stolen by Cloud and his group of misfits. "Take her up to 20,000 feet while continuously running a thorough scan of the ship to ensure that the framework remains stables against the pressure. Slowly increase the speed until we reach the safety margin and keep her there. Inform me immediately if problems come up."

"**As you wish, Naruto-sama."**

"This is amazing, Naruto-kun. You definitely lived up to your title as Konoha's Inventor. You definitely outdid yourself." Sarutobi crowed in delight. He practically threw dignity out the window since it's not every day one get to fly in the first airship in the Elemental Nations. "Any problems so far?"

"As you heard from Kuroto, the Dragoon is working at optimum efficiency. We are currently travelling at more than Jounin-level speeds towards Wave Country." Naruto said with a grin, happy to see his surrogate grandfather not stressed for once. Maybe he should let the old man drive. "Hey old man, maybe you want to drive her from Wave Country and back?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at seeing the goofy grin on the aged leader's face.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"HIRUZEN! YOU WILL NEVER DRIVE THIS AIRSHIP AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!" screamed Koharu, sweaty and pale due to the roller coaster ride they were just put under thanks to the Sandaime taking the Dragoon for a spin. "UZUMAKI! YOU WILL NEVER LET HIRUZEN DRIVE THIS THING OR I'LL THROTTLE YOU!"

The reason why the advisors were screaming their lungs out was because of the Hokage who practically put the Dragoon through its paces. Naruto couldn't believe how daring the Hokage was in steering and was actually praying that the airship held against such acrobatic display. The old leader practically did a few loops, a daring dive before pulling up before crashing, and finally driving side to side like a drunk driver, dodging imaginary enemies and projectiles.

Naruto made a special point to bar his surrogate grandfather from piloting any of his flying inventions or vehicle to avoid accidents or a blow to his sanity.

"Settle down, Koharu. Naruto made sure everything is safe." the Sandaime brushed off his advisor's concerns and ignoring the glares he was getting from a rather miffed Megumi and Homura. He turned to Naruto who was shaking his head. "You did make sure that everything is safe, right?"

"Jiji, the Dragoon is the first of its kind and I made sure that it is equipped with all the safety measures I could think of. However, you putting it through its paces might have been pushing it." Naruto told the paling old man in a condescending tone. "No worries. I talked to Koruto for a diagnostic after you almost ploughed the airship to the ground. Aside from the drain on its batteries, no damage was incurred. Where in Kami did you learn to drive like that anyway?" he asked with some disbelief.

"Call it talent, my boy." the Sandaime said expansively, buffing his fingers on his robes. "You know, I never felt this energized since I went to war with sensei. Maybe I should take this airship for another spin." he said while he gazed longingly at the controls. "For further testing of its capabilities of course."

"NO/**NO**!" everyone, including Kuroto, shouted before the humans in the group dog-piled the Hokage who was slowly making his way to the Dragoon's navigation system while Kuroto disengaged the manual controls just in case the aged leader escaped his predicament.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto raised Masamune to block a slash from Kisuke's Benihime before lashing out with a kick that would have hit the man in the stomach if he didn't disappear and reappear a few meters away from him, smirking at the failed counter.

"Your new speed technique is definitely noteworthy, Kisuke-san." Naruto noted with a bit of annoyance while analyzing the speed technique the man used in the short time he experienced it. "And annoying too."

"And I can't fail to notice your trying to break it down to see how it worked. I already uploaded the schematics to Kuroto's private server so you can easily read it there, Naruto-san." Kisuke quipped while channelling spirit energy into Benihime, causing the blade to turn red with energy. He slashed forward while shouting **"Sing, Benihime!"**

An arc of pure spirit energy shot out towards Naruto who easily deflected the attack with a flick of his blade, grunting at bit since he needed to add more strength since the attack was quite powerful. He thrust Masamune forward to initiate a counterattack of his own**. ****"Tempest Thrust"**

Kisuke took a step to the side to dodge the energy beam before blurring behind Naruto, Benihime already in mid-swing. However, his attack didn't connect since Naruto twirled to intercept it. Both blades clashed with a loud clang that reverberated throughout the training chamber. Both smirked as the dance of blades continued – parries, thrusts, slashes, and swings caused a continuous staccato of metal against metal ringing around the room.

Naruto tilted his head to the side for Kisuke's blade to pass harmlessly a few inches from his ear before flipping back to hit the man's chin with his steel-toed boot. However, Kisuke saw through the attack easily, moved his head back a bit resulting in Naruto's counter to miss. The two paused for a second before disappearing and reappearing in another area to continue their spars, leaving sounds of metal and destruction in their wake.

Above the training chamber, three individuals observed the battle below with interest.

"So Tessai, what do you call this new speed technique?" asked Zabuza with some interest as he watched Kisuke blur in and out between Naruto's many fireballs before running circles around the blonde, sneaking in a few attacks in hopes to incapacitate him. Try as he might, he couldn't follow it. How the brat could dodge the man's attack in conjunction with the speed, he would never know.

"Kisuke-dono called it _Shunpo_, a speed technique that use pure spirit energy." Tessai answered.

"Interesting." the Sandaime voiced out, enjoying the spar of the two inventors below them. He was done with today's paperwork and decided to visit Naruto to pass the time. He arrived at the start of the match between the two Kenjutsu Masters. "And this speed technique can be learned by anyone?"

"Not necessarily, Hokage-sama." Tessai replied and explained seeing the inquiring looks from the aged leader. "_Shunpo_ requires a person to be fully attuned to the spiritual energy in their body. As it stands, Kisuke-dono and I can use _Shunpo_ in varying masteries because we have been exposed to _Reiryoku_ for ten years. I have no doubt that one such as yourself can learn this technique easily through its schematics but actual performance will require complete control over your _Reiryoku_ to pull it off."

The Sandaime nodded in understanding. "Hm, interesting as it is it is to learn this technique, Tessai-san, I don't think my body will be able to handle it. I may be hailed as the _Kami no Shinobi_ but that was in the past. I am old and limited to what I can do and learn."

"That may be true, Hokage-sama, but we can't deny the fact that your experience in battle will trump skill and ability any day." Tessai pointed out causing the Hokage to chuckle in amusement.

"Correct." he said before turning to Zabuza whose hand was twitching and looking at the battle with longing. "How is the team coming along, Zabuza?"

The Demon of the Bloody Mist grunted. "Team Shinra will easily dominate the Chuunin Exams, Hokage-sama. Hell, the brat can pass the tests alone if he wanted to. Add Haku and the trigger-happy Yakumo then you have a team that can easily bring down any opponent with their teamwork and individual skills." he informed the man.

"Naruto is rather skilled." the Hokage quipped in agreement.

"Skilled is an understatement." Zabuza scoffed. "He is a monster in the battlefield, Hokage-sama. I don't know where Naruto learned his kenjutsu style or those spells of his but whoever taught him is one hell of a teacher."

"Well, from what I could tell, Naruto trained himself. He invented his own kenjutsu and taijutsu style while his spells are a product of his bloodline. You might not believe me, Zabuza, but Naruto became what he is now through his own effort. He studied and trained for hours either alone or with his clones. He definitely came far from the hyperactive-boy I knew nine years back." the Sandaime said with pride in his voice.

"Indeed." Tessai agreed. "I was skeptical at first due to his age but when I saw his inventions and learned of their use, I can safely say that Naruto trumps Kisuke-dono and I in terms of discoveries. I don't know where he gets these ideas but they are definitely out of this world. The Dragoon is a testament to that fact."

The Hokage chuckled. The Dragoon was definitely a success. Not a day passed, his office was swamped with inquiry from the clan heads and civilians since it was quite obvious that the huge airship was a Konoha invention. The shinobi already knew who invented it but the civilians didn't. In the end, he had to call a council meeting to explain everything he learned of the Dragoon while leaving out Project Black Leaf since some were not entitled to the organization's existence, especially the loudmouthed civilians. The Shinobi Council was awed at what a 14 year old boy could produce and accepted the explanation with grace and pride. The civilian-side of the council, however, demanded that the Dragoon be used by everyone and become a personal 'chariot' to the council.

That 'request' was smugly denied much to the Shinobi Council's amusement.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the temperature of the room rise to something stifling. His, Tessai's, and Zabuza's jaw dropped when Naruto brought out something that scared them out of his wits.

Naruto decided to give Kisuke a scare since the man was starting to get on his nerves. Sure, he was more than equal to the man in terms of kenjutsu and experience but that speed technique of his was downright annoying.

"I think it's time we bring this fight to a close, Kisuke-san." Naruto told the man who was currently on the other side of the room, catching his breath. His speed technique might be faster than the eye could follow but using it as many times he did was draining. He raised his hand over his head before bursting into red flames. "I will grace you with a bit of my power, Kisuke. I know you've been asking a lot of questions about me so, as respect to your skills, I will show you one of my abilities." He said with a smirk as he brought his magic to bear. When he accumulated enough magical energy for his next attack, he started the words to bring forth one of his partners from the Lifestream. **"I CALL UPON THE GOD OF HELLFIRE. BRING FORTH DESTRUCTION AND BURN THE INFIDELS WHERE THEY STAND WITH THY PURIFYING FLAME. I SUMMON THEE, IFRIT!" **

A large seal appeared on the floor in front of him before five pillars of flame shot out, causing the room's temperature to drastically rise. Slowly the flames combined to form an 8-foot tall armoured beast with horns, smoke and fire spewing out of its mouth. When it fully materialized, Ifrit released a powerful roar the shook the entire building.

"**Hellfire Cannon!**" Naruto commanded while channelling magic towards the summons to activate its attack.

Ifrit grunted before raising his clawed hands in front of him as flames exited his mouth, gathering into a large ball in between his open palms before squeezing them together, compressing the red ball of flame into a smaller form, turning white as its intensity increased. With a roar, Ifrit released his hold on the technique before a stream of intense white fire flew towards a startled Kisuke who had no choice but to use one of his strongest barrier spells or suffer the consequence of being burned alive.

"**Bakudo 81: Splitting Void!"** Kisuke intoned as he channelled as much _Reiryoku_ he had into the spell. A large translucent barrier appeared in front of him just in time to block the fiery beam of white hot flames threatening to turn him to ash. The barrier held as it fought against the flames but he could feel the scorching heat as the flames licked the corner of his spirit construct. Thankfully for Kisuke, the attacked died down as its energy was consumed. No longer having the energy to maintain the defensive construct, he cancelled the spell causing the cracked barrier to wink out of existence. He felt to his knees, gasping for breath as he was utterly drained of _Reiryoku_. "What in the world was that?"

"That, dear Kisuke is one of my summons." Naruto said with some amusement as he walked out from behind Ifrit and stood beside the behemoth. "This is Ifrit, my summon that governs everything that is fire." he explained before releasing the ties that bound Ifrit into the physical plane. With a grunt, the fiery Guardian of Fire disappeared in a pillar of flame back to its home.

"Kami," Kisuke gasped out as he used Benihime to push himself into a standing position, wobbling a bit. "Remind me not to pick a summon fight with you."

"You have a summon?" Naruto asked curiously as he fired a Regen at the man who nodded thankfully at him as he felt his reserves filling up slowly.

"I do. I don't usually bring them except I'm in a pinch."

"What animal?"

"Bears. Brutish bunch but good in a fight." Kisuke admitted with a grin before looking up to see their three wide-eyed spectators. "I guess you win this round, Naruto-san."

"That I did, Kisuke-san. That I did." Naruto said with some amusement as he cast Float on himself to levitate over to where the watchers were perched. "Hokage-ji-sama, fancy seeing you here."

"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun. Quite an amazing match especially that...thing you brought out in the end. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Urahara. I didn't know you had a summon" the Hokage asked curiously. Summons in the Elemental Nations were animals but the one Naruto brought out was definitely not your typical summon. He was definitely curious and itching to find out.

"I do but it is of a different variety." Naruto answered. "Tell you what; I'll upload some info about my summons to your computer terminal. You can read it from there. Just keep it a secret. I don't like people learning of my abilities."

Sarutobi nodded as he followed his surrogate grandson out of the training chamber. "So, Naruto-kun, already done with my request?"

"I already gave the large monitor screen you requested to Tiger. I don't know what you need it for but it's already tested. I added an interface there to connect to Kuroto so you can display anything you want as long as Kuroto has the information."

"Thank you." Sarutobi thanked his grandson. "Also, the Konoha Council requested for the Dragoon to pick up the Fire Daimyo and the rest of the important figures planning to watch the third part of the Chuunin Exams. I know you already know about it but I want to discuss logistics since you are in charge of the airship."

Naruto shrugged as he opened the door to his office, gesturing for the Hokage to enter first. He followed and closed the door, locking it, before taking a seat himself. "In regards to logistics, I suggest that they meet with the Fire Daimyo at the capital so we won't have to make different trips to pick them up. Same can be said when they leave. I'll make a memo to prep the Daimyo's Quarters for his stay. However, I suggest that we post some ANBU on the airship since I heard through the grapevine that there are rumours of other villages interested in stealing the vessel or acquiring the plans for it."

"Yes. Jiraiya also informed me via toad messenger." Sarutobi agreed. "Very well, I will have Neko and Tenzo's group guard the airship during transit. Will Kuroto be in charge of the navigation?"

"Of course, the ANBU Team to man the navigation is still in the middle of their training. Give Panther and his team a month more in simulations to hone their skills."

"I'll leave that in your expert hands, Naruto."

"Thanks, old man. I won't let you down." Naruto said with a smile before a frown appeared on his face. "Any news about the pervert?"

"Jiraiya? Yes, he will be coming to Konoha after the second part of the Chuunin Exams. He agreed to help you commune with Kyuubi."

"What in the world is that pervert doing?" Naruto exclaimed with some irritation. He requested for the Toad Sage a month ago to help him access Kyuubi's chakra and it seems the guy wasn't taking him seriously.

"He is Konoha's spymaster, Naruto-kun. The job is time consuming so his coming back is delayed." Sarutobi chided though he knew why his former student was delayed in his return to the village. He couldn't wait for the new installation of Icha Icha.

"Busy my ass. That old pervert is doing his...research again, peeping in hot springs for his smut." Naruto growled. "You know, jiji, if you keep reading those books of his, you're brain is going to rot."

"I don't know what you mean." Sarutobi denied but there was a hint of blush on his face.

"Pervert the lot of them." Naruto said in surrender.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was the day of the Chuunin Exams and Team Shinra was making their way to the Konoha Academy for the first test. The group garnered quite a lot of attention for different reasons.

Yakumo was currently wearing her best black leather outfit that didn't leave much to the imagination. That and the fact that she was practically strutting around, jiggling her assets everywhere that made quite a lot of men and teens drooling or passing out from blood loss.

Haku, as always, was reserve though he was getting quite a lot of looks from the female population. Thanks to the allowance provided for them by the organization, he was currently decked out in a battle kimono similar to the ones he wore in Wave. The only difference was the lack of an undershirt that showed quite a bit of skin and muscles that had the girls staring with lust. In fact, Haku no longer looked feminine thanks to the rigorous training Zabuza subjected him to and his spars with Naruto. Since they were no longer worried about Hunter shinobi trying to kill them, Haku devoted a lot of his time training and studying. The abundance of food also helped in filling him up.

Naruto, however, received varied reactions from the populace. Shinobi who saw him bowed in respect while others who knew him quite well wished him luck on the exam. The civilians, however, were eyeing him with both speculation and hate. The blonde swordsman didn't know the reason for the former but he didn't care.

"Did the both of you study the rosters for this year's exam?" asked Naruto as he took out his data pad, synchronizing it with Kuroto just in case he needed exact information on the fly.

"We did, Naruto-sama." Haku answered while Yakumo merely nodded.

Naruto sighed. "Haku, how many times do I have to tell you to drop the honorific?" he asked the amused ice-wielding teen.

"Many times that it was no longer funny counting it, Naruto-kun." quipped Yakumo, pulling out a lollipop from the seal on her hand and gave it a good lick before popping it into her mouth. "You should be immune to it by now."

"I should be but I'm not." Naruto admitted before turning to an amused Haku who also had his data pad out. It was a standard issue for all Black Leaf members since it gave them a quick interface to Kuroto and allowing them to send messages if the standard communication line wasn't available.

"I already reviewed everything, Naruto-sama, and I know Yakumo did the same." Haku said, pulling out the summary of the information they acquired from the Hokage. "There are a total of 59 teams this year. It was originally 35 teams but we had a large influx of late registrations a few weeks back. As it stands, every single Hidden Village in the Elemental Nation joined this year's Chuunin Exams, even Iwa and Kumo sent teams to join despite the fact that they aren't in good standings with Konoha."

"Well, considering that the Dragoon made a debut for the whole world to see, it is only obvious that many would be curious to check it out. Joining the Chuunin Exams was one way to acquire such information without being suspicious due to the diplomatic treaty." Yakumo said with a snort. "If I remember correctly, Kuroto-kun detected quite a few attempted entries in ANBU HQ and the apartment. Thankfully, Kuroto was able to activate the minor defences that locked them out. Though I have to wonder why you didn't apprehend them, Naruto-kun. I mean, I know Kuroto has a standing order to do so and with the stun seals you placed all over the place, you can easily knock them out with no one the wiser."

Naruto nodded in agreement. Both laboratories were prepped with stun seals just in case intruders make it inside. "That I could, Yakumo, but keep in mind that the diplomatic treaty is in effect two weeks before the exam and a week after that. Meaning, every single shinobi visitor in the village has a pass. If one of them is knocked out and interrogated then we can safely say it would result in a diplomatic incident Konoha wouldn't want to be part in. Sure, they would be in the wrong but you can safely bet that the other villages would classify that as an unwanted attack on their soldiers. I'll spare jiji the headache." he informed his teammate as they entered the building. They had to stop by the entrance since there was a commotion at the front involving two teens blocking the way to the examination room. Naruto raised an eyebrow since the testing area was in the third floor. He also detected a faint trace of genjutsu in the room meaning, the test already begun.

However, Naruto saw red when he saw one of the teens throwing a punch at Tenten who was playing weak kunoichi. In a burst of speed, Naruto appeared beside the teen and had Masamune out, the blade a few centimetres from the disguised teen's throat causing him to stop his advance or risk being beheaded by the sharp blade.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto warned coldly, making everyone in the room shiver as the temperature dropped by a few degrees and killing intent flooding the room.

The other teen was about to attack Naruto when a hand slipped under his arms and felt something metallic touch his chin. Yakumo used _Shunshin_ to appear behind the man, held him in place while positioning one of her guns with the tip pointing at the chin.

"Now now, boys. Let's not get carried away now. After all, we don't want...to scare these pretties even before the exam starts." Yakumo purred, nudging the man's chin with the tip of her gun. "You're going to behave now, right?" The teen nodded. What else could he do unless he wanted his brains blown off?

Yakumo smiled sweetly before letting the man go since she felt the genjutsu hiding their true forms. Being a genjutsu specialist, she could easily feel illusions from a mile away. She didn't dispel the ones on the two because they were there for a reason, possibly thin the numbers a bit.

"So, are you going to back off or should I start slicing?" Naruto growled out. He didn't know why but he was overly protective of Tenten even if she could take care of herself.

"Cut it out, Naruto." Tenten said with irritation. "I can protect myself. I don't need a bodyguard."

"I didn't do this because you need protecting, Ten-chan. Let's just say that I'm...adverse to people touching you, especially of the male variety."

"Fine." Tenten said with a defeated sigh. There was no use arguing with the teen if he was in one of his stubborn moods. She noticed the glares she was getting from some kunoichis in the room. Great! With that simple 'romantic' act, Naruto now had a few fans from the competition. This was going to get nasty if she had anything to say about it.

Naruto nodded before whispering to the person he held hostage, recognizing the two as chibi version of their older counterparts. "Is there any reason why you and Kotetsu are under an illusion?"

"He he he. Just part of the test, Uzumaki-sama." Izumo answered nervously, his eyes never leaving the blade.

"And trying to harm _my_ Ten-chan is part of the test?" Naruto whispered ominously.

"I-I wasn't g-going to h-hurt her." He managed to stutter while stopping himself from pissing himself from fear.

"Good." said Naruto with a nod before making Masamune disappear. The temperature in the room went back to normal. He grabbed Tenten's hand where a seal was located and transferred some items into it. He leaned down to her ear and whispered. "I added a few more spell tags to your arsenal. I have a few new ones there as well. Read the scroll for information. Tell me if there are problems with them, would you?"

"I will and thanks." she whispered back with a strained smile on her face. She knew that the Naruto was overprotective and a worrywart concerning her but this takes the cake. This was an exam for crying out loud. _"Damn overprotective men though it is flattering for him to worry about me."_

Naruto nodded, gave the girl a smile before letting go of her hand. He was about to call the attention of his teammates when someone said something that made him palm his face.

"Drop the genjutsu!" demanded Sasuke, his one-tomoe _Sharingan_ activated for everyone to see. His teammates were behind him, Sakura looking at him with stars in her eyes while Sai's eyes were twitching.

"Idiot." Naruto scoffed. "Haku, Yakumo. Let's go." he called out to his team who immediately appeared beside him before they made their way up the stairs, ignoring the shocked and jealous looks he was getting.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto was bored as he waited for the exam to start. They were currently trying to relax amidst the cacophony of sounds coming from the various teams around the room, mostly coming from the Rookie 9 as they dubbed themselves, and the odd occurrence of killing intents that seemed to be directed at him. He couldn't find the source though since the room was quite full and it was all mixing together due to him being the only target so he just ignored. He was currently hooked to Kuroto's server through his data pad to add some ideas for study in the future. He stopped in the middle of typing when he heard his name being mentioned.

"Give me whatever information you have on Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto." demanded Sasuke to the glasses-wearing Genin. Naruto recognized the teen from the hospital, Yakushi Kabuto if he wasn't mistaken.

"You already know their names." Kabuto whined as he picked out a card from his deck and laid it on the table. He channelled a bit of chakra to it to reveal the information it contained. "Let me see, Sabaku no Gaara from Sunagakure no Sato. He is the same age as you guys and is part of a team composed of his siblings, Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Kankuro. No information on his abilities aside from the ability to use sand. His mission record shows that he had 15 D-rank, 5-C rank, 4-B rank, and 1-A rank. It also says here that he came out all of his missions without a scratch – an impressive feat for a Genin. It seems that Suna brought a powerhouse this year."

Kabuto pulled out another card. "Next is Rock Lee. According, he is a pure taijutsu fighter since he has a disability that hindered him from channelling chakra. His is part of Team 9 under Maito Gai. His teammates are Higurashi Tenten and Hyuuga Neji. Mission stats are 35 D-ranks, 14 C-ranks, and 2 B-ranks."

"Finally, we have Uzumaki Naruto." started Kabuto but stopped when the card he was holding was blown to pieces due to a chakra bullet courtesy of one annoyed Yakumo. "What was that for?"

"You know, it's curious that you have such information being a Genin. As far as I'm concerned, mission reports are directly reported to the Hokage so how come a Genin was able to acquire them, hm?" Yakumo purred before blowing the smoke coming out of the tip of her gun. She waved her hand causing said weapon to disappear.

"You have no right to..."

"Actually we have the right to destroy it." Haku added his two cents, interrupting what Kabuto was about to say. "It is up to us if we want our information to be shared to everyone in the room or we can put a stop to it so we won't have to worry about the competition."

Kabuto grudgingly nodded, pocketing the rest of his cards to spare them from getting destroyed by the trigger happy kunoichi.

"Afraid of a little competition, dobe?" challenged Sasuke, activating his Sharingan to intimidate Naruto who was looking at him in boredom.

"Afraid no. Cautious, yes. Keep in mind, Sasuke, that this is an exam. Information is the be all and end all for a shinobi." Naruto pointed out before a sly grin crossed his face. "If you want information so badly then let me tell everyone here all about you and your team."

Naruto pressed a few buttons on his data pad causing a holographic projection to appear on the wall. Everyone was staring at it in disbelief, thinking that it was a new jutsu or something.

**Name: Uchiha Sasuke**

Rank: Genin

Bloodline: Sharingan (incomplete)

Affinity: Lightning (major), Fire (minor)

Mission Roster:

D-Rank: 25

C-Rank: 0

B-Rank: 0

A-Rank: 1 (bumped up from C-rank due to encounter with the Demon Brothers and Momochi Zabuza)

Ninjutsu: Above Average

Taijutsu: Above Average (Uchiha Interceptor Style)

Genjutsu: None

Kenjutsu: None

Fuuinjutsu: None

Chakra Level: Low-Chuunin

Techniques:

Katon: Grand Fireball

Katon: Phoenix Fire

Kawarimi no Jutsu

Bunshin no Jutsu

Henge no Jutus

**Name: Haruno Sakura**

Rank: Genin

Bloodline: None

Affinity: Earth

Mission Roster:

D-Rank: 25

C-Rank: 0

B-Rank: 0

A-Rank: 1 (bumped up from C-rank due to encounter with the Demon Brothers and Momochi Zabuza)

Ninjutsu: Below Average

Taijutsu: Below Average (Basic Academy Taijutsu)

Genjutsu: None

Kenjutsu: None

Fuuinjutsu: None

Chakra Level: Genin

Techniques:

Henge no Jutsu

Bunshin no Jutsu

Kawarimi no Jutsu

**Name: Sai**

Rank: Genin

Bloodline: Ink Manipulation

Affinity: Water (major), Fire (minor)

Mission Roster:

D-Rank: 25

C-Rank: 0

B-Rank: 0

A-Rank: 1 (bumped up from C-rank due to encounter with the Demon Brothers and Momochi Zabuza)

Ninjutsu: Above Average

Taijutsu: Above Average

Genjutsu: None

Kenjutsu: Above Average (Tanto user)

Fuuinjutsu: Below Average (Basic Level Seals)

Chakra Level: Mid-Chuunin

Techniques:

Henge no Jutsu

Bunshin no Jutsu

Kawarimi no Jutsu

Ink Clone Technique

Ink Flush Technique

Ink Mist Technique

Super Beast Imitating Drawing

Naruto was inwardly giggling at the sight of a red-faced Uchiha who literally blew his top after seeing his information plastered on the wall for everyone to see. Sakura had a sick look on her face when she saw her stats being the lowest in her team, which was made worst when Ino started telling her that she was basically an Academy Student without any improvement. Sai, on the other hand, was looking at him with speculation, his face an emotionless mask.

"How come you have this, Naruto-baka. Your teammate said that only the Hokage has such information." Sakura screeched causing those with sensitive hearing to cover their ears.

Naruto merely smiled but someone answered for her.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh. "Naruto has the information and leave it at that. He won't answer you since keeping things to himself is an edge in battle. If he displayed your information on the wall then that was your fault since you technically didn't stop him. You could have told him to remove it but you didn't. You simply stared."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Shika." Naruto complimented the lazy Nara heir.

"You're a pain, Naruto." said Shikamaru before seeing Naruto's finger twitched on the data pad he was holding. "Don't show our information please. It would be troublesome if you do."

"As you wish, Shika." Naruto said with a grandiose bow.

Any further conversation stopped when the exam started. Morino Ibiki just entered the room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It took Naruto 15 minutes to answer all the questions, which for him, was relatively easy. Haku did the same since his training with Zabuza actually put him on par with a Jounin with experience to boot. Yakumo, on the other hand, used her bloodline to place an illusion around the room making the others see her struggling with the test while her real self was walking around memorizing answers while enjoying her green lollipop.

Naruto, bored after flipping his test over, decided to check out the competition. He used the scanner bracelet he invented that was a variation of the Black Leaf Matrix. The scanner came in the form of a wrist band that would release a pulse of chakra, similar to a sonar, and acquire specific information on anything alive. The seals were tweaked to relay information such as basic health signs, chakra capacity and potency, bloodline detection, and illusions. In truth, this would be its first test to see if it worked as planned.

Naruto channelled a bit of chakra to the scanner before it released said chakra in slow pulse around the room. He raised an eyebrow when some of the Genins stiffened. _"Interesting. We have sensors in the room...one...two...three...eight sensors."_ he thought as information started entering his consciousness from the scanner. He frowned when the information he acquired made certain truths come out.

One, there was a Jounin in the room that wasn't an examiner basing on that person's chakra reserves. He couldn't pinpoint who that person was since the device didn't have any seals for identifications. He made a mental note to find a way to connect the scanner's information relay to Kuroto's database for identification.

Second, there was someone in the room with Kage-level chakra reserves. He knew it wasn't him since the scanner excluded him from the scans.

Lastly, he detected three minor illusions in the room, small enough to avoid detection from a well-trained sensor but not small enough for a precise scanning device.

Naruto couldn't help but grin. This exam was going to be interesting.

* * *

**End of chapter 3. **

**Please leave a comment or a review. **

**Nonsense flames and criticisms are not welcome. If you don't like this then don't read. **


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